As always, another great video. I would like to add 3 points. (1) If you own a Shapeoko with the OLD style Z-Plate, PLEASE upgrade to the new plate before machining metal. (2) Shake down your machine. What I mean, is using a 1/4" End Mill, start at 5"/min @ 0.005" depth of cut (DOC)(I know this violates the min chip thickness, but bare with me), then increase to 10"/Min @ 0.010" DOC all the way up to 30"/Min @ 0.030" DOC (using the 5 multiplier). What you should be looking for (or at) is the machine in detail. Look for loose things (V-Wheels, rotating screws, etc) at each step. This will prepare your machine for metal, and often find the "sweet spot) that your machine likes. (3) Square the machine and Spindle using Winston's method (and feel free to buy an indicator that fits in the spindle) I check my machine about every 2 months...Yes it DOES move. This goes for all Hobby CNC machines. One more item: It is nearly impossible to break a 1/4" end mill on the Shapeoko/Nomad, and will last years if used correctly in Aluminum and Brass. Yes they cost more then a 1/8 End Mill, but is cheaper in the long run, because you WILL crash your machine...we ALL do at some point. Now, go out and make something (JPL_Richard)
The problem with the S2 is that the rails are too thin (cross section) and therefore doesn't have enough stiffness to take the necessary chip per tooth that Winston so elegantly described with this favorite spinner. You could take tiny time DOC (0.005 max) and eventually get there....in a very long time. Great time for an upgrade.
Seriously Winston, the folks at Carbide should be paying you for all the “Shapeoko how to information” that you put out here for “Their” customers. Once again I find myself turning to you for my CNC education,,, and as it has been each and every time that I have turned to your videos for that much needed learning moment,,, you’ve been a tremendous help! Thank you Winston!
Your video pacing, editing, and content are amazing. I respect how hard it must be to get everything lined up between the video, your narration, and having the proper content. This was informative, told me 3 times as much info in about half the time I've spent on other sources (blogs, videos, pdf files, etc). Thanks a ton for the effort you put in, and I'll be working my way through both your past and future videos!
THx for your effort, as always fun to watch. I just have to mention one thing, that hardly ever gets mentioned. 1 and 2 flute endmills are for wood, while 3 and 4 flute endmills are for metalls. There are hardly any woodworking tools, that have more than 2 flutes. While you can use em to work wood, you dont get better results. 1-2 flutes Wood, 2-3 flutes Aluminium, 3-4 flutes brass and other metalls. Still alot of ppl think spiral cutters get better results than straight cutters. which is true in some cases, but your straightcutting tools should be one of your primary woodworking tools. A good rule of thumb used in the industry in germany for wood is, the radius of your tool is the max depth for a pass. Lets say you have a 4 mm endmill and want to route a dado 6mm deep. You take 3 passes at 2mm each. If you have a 12 mm tool you would be routing it in one pass. Reduces the strain on the tool and the spindel.
Awesome video. It wasn't overly long or boring to watch like a lot of other cnc videos from other people. Love the simple, clean, straight forward approach to getting the right amount of info across to make sense and cause people(myself included) to look further into actually calculating S&F.
Winston, I know this is an older video, but good job! From someone who teaches this to new users, I have to say that I always send them a link to this video. Great job.
Frederic Taylor's first job as a foreman of a machine shop. He applied his organizational skills to finding the most efficient way to cut metal and along the way invented High Speed Steel. You can read his research report that was originally published in 1906 as a kindle book. "On The Art Of Cutting Metals" by Frederic Taylor.
My first foray into the world of CNC starts on Monday when my Bobscnc Router arrives. Your videos are great brother and you should definitely make more...and longer...and more detailed! Seriously you have a great voice for making these sort of instructional videos and you just earned a subscriber from me in the hope of future videos like these. Great work dude!
Thanks for your great video Winston. I recently changed my router to a 2.2KW spindle and what a difference it makes to slow the bit down and watch it perform as it was designed.
All operations in wood can be calculated io to optimise result, finish of the workpiece, and operation time. Time is money. But somme parameters who are uncertain as the precision of the router clamping system can influence all this (can be calculated to). Big differance between a collet system and fi a heat or cold schrink clamping system. Collet precision is +/- 0.06 mm, so this means a two wing flute cutter wil have only on one wing that do most of the cutting while causing a lot of vibration. A precision clamping system has 0.004mm runout. There both wings will be cutting and with good balanced tools no vibrations. And as an extra; snapping tools are not longer a problem, and feedrate can be higher. Best regards.
Winston, it’s both unfortunate and great that you’re videos are so short. I find myself clicking the back button to insure I’ve liked your video after I’ve watched it and am on to your next video.
Nice and you can advance higher by using your own sharpened carbide toolbits perhaps a three phase 24K watercooled spindle, in a higher speed spindle you only need single flute tool bit, cheaper, easier to sharpen, basically it`s like a pencil, you can utilize it until there`s no shank left
My DIY machine works very rough with the Vectric bits parameters, nothing nearly close to the videos I watch. Only with 3 mms. bits it works almost fine. As you say, on X or Y makes a lot of vibrations, I don´t know what to blame, the bits, the wood, the speed, the thickness..... anyway, I will continue testing following these recommendations. From Colombia, thank you .
I've had good luck with a zigzag calibration test: www.precisebits.com/tutorials/calibrating_feeds_n_speeds.htm Then again, I mostly cut wood, which as you point out is more forgiving.
Your illustration of the cutter and material removed shows a clockwise cut and a left-to-right movement of the router. In the non-CNC world of routers, that’s a “climbing cut” which is less stable than when the cutter (in your illustration) moves right-to-left. It tends to pull the cutter toward the wood that’s due to be cut, but faster than the bit can tolerate. In the CNC world, does direction of travel matter (relative to the cutter’s spin direction), is is the “climbing cut” actually preferred?
In metal you generally want climb cutting as much as possible so the cutting edge can bite into the material and start shearing material and "forming a chip" as soon as possible. For finishing wood and plastic however, I've seen conventional cutting work a lot better in a lot of instances. It does a better job of not fraying fibers in endgrain and such.
Good Stuff. I am an engineer who is pretty good at figuring things out but a total newb at CNC and looking mostly to add it to my woodworking hobby. Starting to think the shapeoko is a good value machine to start with and looking at the 3XL like you have in your videos. Any advice using the benefit of your 20-20 hindsight?
Have a project in mind before you buy the machine so you have something to focus on as you learn and narrow down the skills you need to acquire to get that first win. You will need an 1/8" collet (or adapter, but the collet is the better way to go). Use the community. Ask questions, get ideas, etc. It will accelerate your own learning, and inspire you.
@@WinstonMakes good advice - I think I will take the next year to clean out a good space for it then start by using it to engrave on cutting boards and toy box lids that I make for charity around xmas - a bit simplistic but I will get better as I learn...
Question, or an idea for part 6. Can you do a video if possible about choosing what cutter to use for different types of material? For instance, I am finding some say that it is better to use a Spiral O Single Flute for acrylic as an example. Or am I just an idiot?
I just purchased this one: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MZEJCU0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I will let you know how it goes. Should be here in two days.
Hi, how are you? I have an x-carve and what I cut daily with the machine is 9mm mdf. but to make my cuts faster I bought a Flute Straight of 3/16 bosh and in its configuration of the machine only modify dept per pass (4.5 mm) but not the feed rate (1016 mm / min) and plunge rate (228.6 mm / min ). I would like to know if this configuration is ok or I would have to modify some feed rate or plunge rate to not damage my machine. I hope your quick answer, I'm from Peru. Thank you.
My CNC has a Makita M3700G router with "not load speed of 35,000 rpm" on it. the "No load speed" is the same value of spindle speed that I have to use in the formula? sorry guys , Im new to this concepts
Your router should compensate for the load by increasing the power to meet the speed indicated, so yeah! I'm sure you figured this out by now though :)
