[JC50]

I'm doing a pretty detailed carving of the Last Supper for a local church. To get the detail I want, I'll be using a 1/16" ball nose with a 1/8" shank cutting either walnut or cherry. I've never cut with a finishing bit this small, and I'm concerned with breaking bits if I feed too fast. Any advice about the ipm I should use. Also, I normally use a step over of 10%, so should I keep that setting.

[Joe Crumley]

JC,

Your step-over is correct with a spindle speed of 14K. The travel speed will depend upon two factors. The first is the depth of cut and the hardness of your specific wood. I'd guess 4IPM would be safe depending on the size of model. I'd drop that in half for smaller artwork.

Hope this works for you.

Joe Crumley
Norman Sign Company, Oklahoma, Housing Addition Signs, Apartment Signs, Retirement Home Signs, Rest Home signs, Chiropractic signs, Dental Office Signs, Dentists Signs, Pediatric Signs, Medical Clinic Signs, Attorney Signs, Appartment Home Signs

[JC50]

Just to update this thread to anyone who's interested. I cut the piece several days ago using a 1/16" ball nose (1/8" shank) that I purchased from Kodiak Cutting Tools (about $11.50 for the bit). I cut it at 25 ipm and it worked great. I possibly could have safely upped my speed to 30 ipm. It took about 6 1/2 hours to cut. The actual rlf (artcam relief file) was about 12" x 4" and the detail was good enough that one could actually see detail in the beards of men on the relief.

[Joe Crumley]

Good for you.

Perhaps you would show a photo or two. I'm sure everyone would like to see the beautiful work.

Joe Crumley