Mill tooling for a wood project

[Clock work]

Happy if this helps. I just remembered the recent cherry example.

Fantastic reply and craftsmanship. Thank you very much!

CW

 

[Bob Korves]

The tearout on the surface milling across the grain is expected.[/QUOTE}
You can clamp a sacrificial sheet of scrap over the cut to eliminate the tearout on the work.

 

[chips&more]

I used to cut wood on my metal working machines. NOT ANY MORE. The saw dust raised havoc on the moving parts of the machines. As for burning the wood. I do not leave the cutter standing still, I always keep it moving. Use a sharp cutter. And I blow shop air directly on the cut being made…Dave

 

[Clock work]

I used to cut wood on my metal working machines. NOT ANY MORE. The saw dust raised havoc on the moving parts of the machines. As for burning the wood. I do not leave the cutter standing still, I always keep it moving. Use a sharp cutter. And I blow shop air directly on the cut being made…Dave

Dave... thanks. It's good to hear everyone's experience. What were one or two examples of the moving parts problem and do you think having a vacuum right at the work would reduce the issue? Thanks again.

CW

 

[chips&more]

I had a vac, I guess it did OK but some saw dust still stuck to the oiled parts of the machines. My wood shop is now in another room away for my metal machines. And my abrasive machines are in yet another room.

 

[Clock work]

I had a vac, I guess it did OK but some saw dust still stuck to the oiled parts of the machines. My wood shop is now in another room away for my metal machines. And my abrasive machines are in yet another room.

Thanks Dave... very clear answer. 3 rooms... HUGE ENVY at my end

 

[Franko]

I use 1/2" shank carbide router bits in my mill with pretty good results.
I don't do lengthy wood projects on my mill. I clean all the metal chips before cutting wood and cover as much as I can. Then, give it a good vacuuming after the cuts.

This is an access hole I cut in some 3/4" Baltic birch plywood for a keyboard controller stand to access the plugs and switch.
Two 1" starting holes on the drill press with a forstner bit, then cut out between them with a 1/2" straight router bit on the mill after hogging it out with a 7/8" forstner bit.

 

[Clock work]

I use 1/2" shank carbide router bits in my mill with pretty good results.
I don't do lengthy wood projects on my mill. I clean all the metal chips before cutting wood and cover as much as I can. Then, give it a good vacuuming after the cuts.

This is an access hole I cut in some 3/4" Baltic birch plywood for a keyboard controller stand to access the plugs and switch.
Two 1" starting holes on the drill press with a forstner bit, then cut out between them with a 1/2" straight router bit on the mill after hogging it out with a 7/8" forstner bit.

View attachment 253271

Thank you.. more great input on this.

I'm thinking that since this table is a one-off for my wife that I'll take a swing at it with the mill. I'll need to do some practice mortises on scrap before I attack the legs.

CW

 

[Dave Paine]

I use my shop vac while I am machining wood on the mill and always look for any debris on the ways. One hand holding the hose close to the cutter, the other hand operating the handle on the table.

 

[coherent]

Is your mill manual or CNC? If you already have a VFD then you should be able to reconfigure your belts and set the vfd to get higher RPMs. With most CNC router work with wood, the spindle speed is in the 10k-12k range and 2 fluted bits work best but you're talking about roughly 100ipm cut speeds. 4 flute bits just seem to create more heat and cause burning issues and lower cut quality. Cut speeds too slow will also cause burning and dull the bits quickly. A spiral downbit will cause the least tear-out on the top edges/surface and cut speeds are slower to allow for chip evacuation. Up-cut bits will clear the chips much better and leave a better finish on the bottom of the cut. Compression bits do both best but can be a bit pricey. If you are running the mill manually (or CNC), make a few practice cuts to find the best RPM and cut speed combo. If you only use the mill for occasionally cutting wood, You can always fabricate a simple router or spindle mount for your mill. Small variable speed routers are fairly inexpensive and with it setup to allow you to quickly attach/remove it, you would have no problem cutting mortise's, tenons, and other tasks etc with good results. If your mill is CNC then an additional high speed spindle/router mount allows lots of possibilities and your only restriction is work size. A manual mill with a router mount will allow precision that is nearly impossible to replicate with a hand router or router table. Wood dust is the only concern, but a good shop vac and a dust shoe with a brush skirt would be a good option.