New Z axis up and running! Help needed with end mills, what do I need???

I've got my Z axis up and running on my Torchmate, I'm running a 2.2 k water cooled spindle with an er20 collet , I purchased collets from Tormach 1/8 1/4 and 1/2 along with a few end mills for each.

For 2D designs I'm using Artcam.

I'm looking to cut some speaker cabinets out of 1/2, 3/4 and 1" MDF in two passes, what endmill/cutter would be best suited for this task?

As far as art stuff and names and signs in MDF and other woods and plastic what would be considered the essential bits to have for this?

Any help is greatly appreciated as CNC routing is new to me, I've only been CNC plasma cutting up til this point.

Thanks

Check the stickied thread on top on router bits and endmills...

The one you started? I read all seven pages along with tons of other posts.

Thanks for all the great info! Most of the bits listed were ebay deals that are long gone, I did find drillman1 on ebay but there's soo many to choose from.

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Originally Posted by modelaratrod

The one you started? I read all seven pages along with tons of other posts.

Thanks for all the great info! Most of the bits listed were ebay deals that are long gone, I did find drillman1 on ebay but there's soo many to choose from.

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While we did find deals on eBay most the bits were purchased directly from the manufacturer (Onsrud, Kodiak Cutting Tools, Bam Carbide) or from outlets like Enco, MSC, ToolsToday, and Fastenal.

My advice is to buy them as you need them. Shy away from sets. Most hardware store bits are anti kickback, and are not as suited for the higher feeds of CNC. Quality tools produces quality work wken used within their parameters. Onsrud's site has great info.

Regardless of where purchased, I try to explain the differences between the tools and what applications they're suited for. For MDF, a 2 flute straight bit, carbide tipped HSS body, with positive rake should be fine. I ramp in to MDF cuts. Compression spirals will work, though the upcut area may be longer than your pass is deep, and ypu won't get the benefit of it. A mortise compression spiral has a shorter upcut, which would work better.

For MDF I've been using 1/4" two flute carbide upcut bits from American Carbide. I do 3/4" MDF in three passes @15,000 RPM and 125 IPM feedrate.

If you really want to cut 1" MDF in two passes, I'd go with a 3/8" compression spiral.
I would think that you'll get some deflection, so you may want to cut it slightly oversize and do a 3rd full depth clean up pass.

A downcut spiral will work too, and be a bit cheaper. The bottom edge of the cut will be a little fuzzy, but can easily be cleaned up with a few seconds of sanding.

I believe a straight flute bit gives the cleanest cuts in MDF since there's no up or down pull on the edges. Onsrud even makes bits optimized for MDF cutting with larger rake angles. The HSS body also means you can beat on them pretty good, and it allowa the use of harder carbide.

The ultimate tool for MDF is an up/down PCD single edge tool. They cost around $160-200 but they last about 10 times as long as carbide. Onsrud and Amana make them.

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Originally Posted by Devastator

For MDF I've been using 1/4" two flute carbide upcut bits from American Carbide. I do 3/4" MDF in three passes @15,000 RPM and 125 IPM feedrate.

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That's what I'm looking for! Thanks Devastator.

Thanks everyone I've got a good variaty of cutters from Onsrud and a few others in my cart.

I'm looking @ v bit's now and I like the idea if the insert style, I find the Amana rc-1102 for about $100 and the ams-150 4 piece set for $300 For art signs etc. would it be better to buy the set?

The set is only better if you use them all.

Thanks Ger. That's the issue, I'm not sure as I've not done any cnc sign routing yet so I'm not sure what would be needed and what would be nice to have.

Not a big fan of buying sets. I've got over 100 router bits. In 25 years of woodworking,I've only bought one set of bits. In that set, more than half have never been used.

I agree also that it's better to buy bits as you need them. Quality tools are not cheap. The only possible exception would be a set of straight bits, they're most always useful.

With that being said what's the bit's used most? E.G. for a basic 3/4 mdf sign clearance with 1/2 end mill, letter with 90 degree v bit, finish with 1/8 ball mill.

Too many variables.

V bit angle can be related to the size of the letters. On large letters, a 90° bit might cut too deep, unless you have a flat bottom. On small letters, it may not cut deep enough.
Ball nose tools are mostly used for 3D carving. Size depends on the amount of detail that you need. Most people don't do 3D carving in MDF.
If you're using spiral tools, I'd use 1/4" or 3/8", as they're much cheaper than 1/2". But for carbide tipped tools, I'd use 3/8 or 1/2".

Bottom line - each application will be best cut with a specific tool, which depends on the application.

I'm starting out with some whiteside v bits, 90 & 60 degree 1/2 dia and 60 degree 1/4 dia. and a couple up/down 1/4 dia.

Thanks again for all the info.