Cutting Plastic 

That all makes a huge amount of sense Tom when really thinking about it. Very useful info for sure. Basically, plastic is just too plastic!! I assume the flood flow is mainly for chip removal - although suspect too there are temp factors. My main plastic work has been gross stuff like turned 3" nylon rod or Delrin rod etc (awful stringy chips of course that turn into a bird's nest!) - no major mill work (which anyways can't be CNC) Camera looks great!

Hi Tom, it's amazing how we make assumptions about how things will machine, even although it's (potentially) the first time we use a material. A teacher once told me 'Mr. McIntyre, people like you are the reason people like me have a job. Hindsight and reflection are 2 of the most powerful enabling tools in your box'. He was a kind of Scottish Mr. Pete!!!! The video quality is superb, crystal clear. Thanks for sharing. Sincere regards. Joe.

Hi, can you recommend any cnc machine for cutting, carving amber?

Thanks for the info. I’m a mere hobbyist and had great trouble making simple turned feet for a stool. Changed cutters, changed speed, depth of cut etc. finally got a set of four feet but terrible finish. The best finish I did get was in the bore with a good sharp knife edge tool. Inserts no good, tended to push aside and melt the material (Acetal)

the O flute router/mill cutters do a good job of cutting plastic, same with worn out coated cutters

Can we create snap joint with engineering plastic? Thanks

I really like the new camera. Great info on the plastics.

Tom, you have made it very clear to me that I will never be able to run any sort of CNC machine!! Although I find it fascinating, I just don't have the ability to understand the programming. Great job, and the camera is Good! Razor!

I machine a good bit of lexan for smaller parts. You really have to use good sharp tooling as well. If are slightly rubbing, it will melt on you and load the tool up. Other than a higher ipt and slightly lower rpm, it machines pretty awesome. Some prototyping i do in lexan first and then aluminum, saves a little time and material.

I machine a lot of Delrin (Acetal) it seems to machine similar to aluminum. Another thing is plastic can be deformed easily in a vise, and if you are too aggressive it can rip it out of the vise. Especially on smaller parts.

Very Helpful :-) Thank You!!

I think it was Robert Cowan who recently talked about cutting plastic. He mentioned end mills built especially for plastics, mostly two flute. But he did not say where he got them. Any comments on that?

can you do the same without coolant?

Enjoyed....interesting....what are the two parts for...just curious....camera is fine!

Thanks for the advice. How are you liking your GoPro. We got the Hero5 Session.

"if you rub plastic it melts" - and this is great because if you rub metal your tool melts instead ))

Camera looks fine to me. At 2:51 it looks like your part is flexing all over the place?

new camera looks good!

Well Done!! :-)

nylon is tricky, ABS is awesome to cut! I found it best with ABS to use a slow spindle rpm ~1000rpm is plenty and a fast feed rate and I get no strings and perfect wall finishes and edges where higher RPM tended to cause strings and heating that sheared the finish. on nylon is harder and doesn't work quite the same. I will have to look, but I did perfect my nylon parts with a good feed and speed rate that eliminated just about all of the strings, I hate second op or Clean up work on plastic​, ruins the finished look!

Hi are you familiar with cellidor plastic

Go pro suite

To messy . Clean up time. Injection molding is the way for this.