[WATERJET71]

Hello,

I need to make a grove with a endmill Ball on a piece of plastic but I only have a 4 flute can I use that on plastic or I need a 2 flute?

tx

[txcncman]

4 flute will work fine. Will have to run a slower feed to allow for chip evacuation balanced with correct RPM.

[Claytonc]

I'm a noob myself but from what I've read you want to use a 1 or 2 flute bit if at all possible. The more flute the more melt you will get. Use air or soapy water helps (but not alot in my experiance...) But as it is now all I've been able to use is a 3 flute vbit on acrylic. I've tried extruded and cast. Both seem to act very much the same although cast is supposed to cut easier. I've just received my 2 flute vbit today so I will be trying that as soon as my new order of acrylic shows up. Hopefully it will go much smoother.

[fatal-exception]

He didn't say what type of plastic.

There's a huge difference between cast and extruded acrylic. I can cut extruded acrylic and 150ipm, .06DOC, 24krpm, 1/16" 2FL end mill all day with no melting. Extruded melts the second you plunge into it and you hear that $6 'SNAP'.

You can use any flute count you have, but generally for plastics, use less flutes for the best performance. Uncoated mills (like the ones for aluminum) are also better for plastics, as they are sharper than coated ones.

Paul