Novice after some advice

[lukenotts]

Hi everyone,

this is my first post here so please be gentle!

I am a complete novice to CNC. I have on order a machine from which I am hoping to cut name plaques, photo frames and shapes from MDF. I have been hand cutting all of these items on the scroll saw, but due to a vast number of orders and the length of time spent cutting, I am planning to use the CNC to help speed things up.

I am familiarizing myself with the software side of things and have spent a lot of time creating designs using the Vcarve Pro Trial software, as I have a copy arriving with my machine. Im also getting my head around flutes, feed rates, spindle RPM and so on... its a big learning curve from what I have been doing in the past.

I am looking at getting a few end mills to have ready to try out on the machine when it arrives in a couple of weeks, and wondered if anyone has any recommendations?

The trouble I am finding is that I am going to need to have pretty high detail when cutting certain shapes out. Judging by the 3D models drawn up in vcarve pro, I am going to need 3mm end mills for some of the 18mm thickness MDF, and many end mills I have found, dont allow a cut that deep. The best I can find are from a company called FrezyCNC based in poland, which has a rather high postage rate. They have a rage of 'DeepReach' endmills in 2 and 3 flute.

Any UK based sellers would be much more preferable.

I have so many more questions, but I'll save them for another time!!! Sorry for being such a noob.

Thanks for reading,
Luke
Nottinghamshire, UK

EDIT: Also, my spindle is capable of 5-25k RPM, and I have purchased a collet set to enable it to take 3mm, 6mm, 1/8" and 1/4" diameter bits.

[WandrinAndy]

Welcome to the forum Luke!

Afraid that as a fellow noob I am unable to provide info to help, but I am pretty sure that the Brains-That-Be will be interested to know what particular CNC machine you have on order....

Andy

[GEOFFREY]

Hi, I know it will be frowned upon, but in soft materials (mdf, ply etc) I use 1/8" end mills with 1/8" shanks and allow them to go a bit deeper than their theroetical (16mm) cutting depth on the last pass and get good results. I would not try this with plastics as I think it would cause melting. You may find this worth a try. My spindle only has a 1/8" so this is the only way I can cut 18mm material. Good luck with your new machine when you get it, I'm sure you will love it and will never want to go back to doing things the old way. G.

[lukenotts]

Thanks guys,

Geoffrey, If im correct, I think you mean allowing the shank (the part without any cutting edge) to be a few mm into the material on its last pass, so long as the shank is the same diameter as the cutting diameter. I had considered this but was not sure if it was possible... might open up a few more purchasing possibilities. Do you not experience any burning, or is that not something that would happen in materials like MDF or Ply? Interesting you mentioned ply as Im thinking of buying a few sheets and trying those out too.

The machine I have on order is the Heiz S-1000... would have liked to stretch for the faster T series but unfortunately, my budget is restricted, compounded by the fact that I am having to purchase software and WINPC NC USB.

Here is the link to the information supplied on the website I purchased:
Prototools Prototype in House - Heiz S-1000 CNC Machine (with 5-Channel Controller)
Cheers Guys,
Luke

[GEOFFREY]

Yes, that is what I meant. Obviously the shank diameter must be no greater than the cutter dia. I have not had any burning problems, but that is not to say it can't happen. If you cut down to the maximum depth of the cutter flutes, clean out any rout-dust and cut with afairly fast feed I think you will find it does work. I use a down spiral cutter to push the "swarf" downwards, which means it is not being forced up between the cutter and the groove sides. If doing this always stay with the machine whilst cutting just in case it starts to burn. G.