Which plans and tools should I use ?

[Denford Admin]

A customer has written in:

Hi

I am working with a Denford 2600 PRO and I was looking for some advice on what to do to achieve the best results.

I am trying to cut a 3D model out of some Hardwood (oak). I have attached the stl files of the model for reference. I am just wondering if there is anything in particular I should do to achieve the best result, such as certain spindle speeds and feed rates or an appropriate type of router bit to complete the job.

Any help and advice which you can offer would be very much appreciated.

[Denford Admin]

There are plenty of choices to make for this type of model and a lot is down to experimentation and what tools you have available.
As your models are quite big (400mm x 600mm), I'd first of all use the custom boundary in order to machine a small area to see what kind of finish is left.
I'd start with something along the lines of this:
1. Area clearance with a large slot(flat) drill

If you're cutting a hard wood, you may need to remove a lot of the material first

area-clearance-example.jpg (273.92 KiB) Viewed 14047 times

2. Raster finishing with a ball nose (small enough to fit into the smallest feature)

raster-finishing-example.jpg (247.65 KiB) Viewed 14047 times

3. Pencil pass machining with a slot drill to remove the radius'd corners left by the ball nose.

Pencil milling with a slot mill will follow the contours and clean away the radii left by the ball nose cutter

pencil-milling-example.jpg (143.26 KiB) Viewed 14047 times

Because the model is large, then both the Quickcam and VRMilling 5 simulations will struggle to show it in fine detail, but as I said, start with a custom boundary and see what the results are like.

qc-simulation-vrmilling.jpg (141.26 KiB) Viewed 14047 times

See here for more information on the custom boundary:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2388&p=10399