[Driftwood]

Hi all,

I'm going to be doing a small wood job on my metalworking CNC mill, so I've got no idea what speeds and feeds to use, was hoping for some suggestions.

Simple job; 1" x 7" planks, 40" long of white oak. I need to make some channels in it with a ballnose cutter. Depth will be 1/4" and tool will be either a 1/2" or slightly bigger 2 flute carbide endmill I use for metal.

So, first of all, will the cut be ok using that tool, or do I need to get something specific for wood?

Second, how many RPMS (or surface feet per min) should I run, and what would be a good feed rate to get chips (rather than dust) coming off so cleaning will be easy after?

I plan on holding the nozzle of my shop vac close to the tool while cutting, hoping this will catch most of the chips and dust...

Any other comments or suggestions would be appreciated...

Thanks...

[kthomson]

If you're doing this on a mill, you probably need to use the fastest speed available for cutting wood. I use ball nose endmills in my router for flutes frequently, but I run them at 12000 RPM and about 100ipm feed rate cutting 1/4" deep, 1/8" per pass.

I'm still experimenting with feed rates, so others may have a better answer, especially if you're using a mill.