Adjusting feed rate and spindle speed "on the fly"

[windcrest77]

Hi,

I'm still learning how to operate my machine (Iconic 4)... So far I've been setting my feed rate in the Vetric software and just living with that when the job runs, often its not optimal. As for spindle speed I adjust that manually with the little dial on the CPU.

My question is.., What buttons on the handheld controller allow me to "tweek" my feed rate after my job has started? Is it the Y +/- buttons? Also can I tweek my spindle speed from the handheld controller after the job is running as well from the handheld controller? Or do I have to continue to do that with the little dial on the CPU (which is a pain due to its sensitivity)?

Ideally I want to fine tune my feed rate and spindle speed as the job is running based on what I'm seeing and hearing about how efficiently the tool is cutting my material.

My confidence is not high enough yet to begin pushing buttons on the handheld after the job starts (other than cancel or pause), until I know the proper sequence of button pushes, like I said I'm learning.

The Vetric software is very easy to learn, but I'm having a lot of trouble learning how to use the handheld controller to tweek my feeds and speeds live.

[stevem]

windcrest77: You should really take a close look at your manual to get some sort of idea on what your machine can actually do!
With that being said, you can adjust things like spindle speed and feed rates on the fly.
You have to understand however that if you set the feed rate say at 150 ipm in Vectric when you're creating your project that is as fast as the machine can cut. On your controller, you can speed up your feed rate by pressing the Y+ or slow it down by pressing Y-. If you have the feed rate set in your Vectric project at 150 ipm you can't speed it up faster than that speed on the controller. If that is what you want to do, then when creating your project, set the feed rate at the fastest the machine is able to cut and then you can use the Y- to slow the cut down. Every time you press the Y- button, you are slowing the feed rate by 10%.
As for the spindle speed, you can adjust the RPM's by just turning the speed control knob while your cutting.
Be careful to not set the feed rate faster that the 150 ipm that your machine is raated for.
I really don't think many Axiom users are ever cutting at 150 ipm. That speed rate is what your rapid rate is rated at for your machine.
If you have a project that has many turns, curves angles or corners, your machine will not ever cut that fast even if you have the feed rate set for that speed. The machine is designed to slow down when the bit hits curves or turns.
I have a A4 with a spindle and no matter what I am cutting, I never have my feed rate set faster than 140 ipm and most times it's usually set at 90-120 ipm. If your doing a v carve project you will never cut at the maximum speed ever because the bits simply can't handle those speeds.

One other thing:  The spindle you have may have problems when cutting at higher speeds unless you take more passes in your project.  You don't wand to bog down the spindle when your cutting.

Hope this helps

Steve

[windcrest77]

Aug 15, 2020 18:48:14 GMT -5 stevem said:

windcrest77: You should really take a close look at your manual to get some sort of idea on what your machine can actually do!



Thanks Steve,

This helps a lot for two reasons:

With your help...

1) I now know what the Y +/- buttons do on the fly, that was my main apprehension to start pressing buttons during a job.
2) I also now know that the only way to adjust the spindle on the fly is turning the knob.

I dont route wood very often, almost never. It's all for Aluminum so my spindle is usually 17,000 RPM for single flute aluminum-rated end mills; and 2500-3000 RPM for twist drills. When I do end mills sometimes the machine is screaming like a banshee or the chips dont look right, so I want to hit the Y- button or Y+ button to get the chips to look correct and that usually co-incides with it not screaming. I've been stopping my job then running back to the software to make a new MMG file, but now I can just hit the Y buttons, thanks!

I spray every cut with WD40 cutting oil on both milling and drilling.

For twist drills in 6061 aluminum I've had good luck with 2500-3000 RPM and 15 IPM doing two pecks through 1/8 inch thick plate aluminum. So I probably wont need the Y button for twist drills. Anything over 3/16 inch in diameter I use and end mill instead of a drill to make the hole.

This helps immensely, thanks, I find the manual to be lacking, it's probably just me, but the manual is not well written or clear. It took both my son and I a week to find out that the software wont set the spindle speed, that has to be set with the dial! Maybe that was in the manual, but we both missed it. Apparently we missed what buttons do what when a job is running too. The Vetric software is a piece of cake to understand, but the pendant controller is still an enigma!

[stevem]

I really takes awhile to understand the manual!
I have never cut aluminum, so I couldn't advise you of the proper procedure, but it sounds like you have some of the basic's down.
I have probably read my manual 10 times and still have questions on how to do something.
Have fun with your machine.

[windcrest77]

Aug 16, 2020 21:40:54 GMT -5 windcrest77 said:

Aug 15, 2020 22:00:08 GMT -5 stevem said:

I really takes awhile to understand the manual!
I have never cut aluminum, so I couldn't advise you of the proper procedure, but it sounds like you have some of the basic's down.
I have probably read my manual 10 times and still have questions on how to do something.
Have fun with your machine.

I did discover another thing undocumented fact today about using the Y button to adjust feed rate on the fly. It appears that the Y+ button will not go any higher than the feed rate you set for that tool in Vectric. You can go lower with the Y- button but when you click it back up again you can only go as high as you set in the software. So what I'm going to do is specify a higher feed rate in the software than I plan on using. Currently for 6061 aluminum I go slow 18,000 RPM at 15 IPM. That gives me a mirror smooth edge on the aluminum plate, but I know I can go to 30IPM but there will be some ridges, sometimes ridges are ok if the hole is just going to be used to mount a switch. So if I set the software feed to higher then when I start the job immediately click it down, I'll have more headroom to go higher if the machine is dogging.

One other thing I learned about aluminum and drill bits. The low speed horsepower of the Iconic 4 really cant do drill bits over 1/4 inch. To get any HP you have to speed it up to 10K but ideally a drill bit cuts best at 2500 in aluminum 6061. Frequency driven spindles are completly the opposite of regular belt driven tools. With those you get your most HP at low speed because the pulley is small to large and your least HP at higher speeds. With the frequency diriven direct drive motor it is just the opposite! that took me by surprise getting into CNC as a total newbie. I probably should have gotten the 3HP machine knowing this now, but I went for the Iconic 4 because it was advertised as the entry level beginner machine and that is certainly me! But it would be nice to have some low speed horsepower, I'll just have to adapt to the HP I have to not stop the bit cold as often.

[stevespringer]

the machine can only go as fast as the slowest setting for x, y or z. makes sense that you can't move the machine in the x or y direction if z is not yet finished what it's supposed to do