3D carving and plunge milling

[germanguitars]

I carve out guitar necks in two halves and glue them together so that the grain of each side will oppose the other and avoid twists due to humidity changes. When I mill out a neck, I have a ~1.25" blank and I need to hog off a lot of wood. Plunge milling is really efficient at this since only one axis is working during the cuts. I have used a ball-nose 1/2" bit mostly in the past, but I have noticed that sometimes the spindle struggles while the bit is pulling back out of a deep plunge. Today I used an actual ball bit and was happy with the results. Since there is more room above the ball, the chips have somewhere to go. The bit diameter only reaches 1/2" at one point, so there is less drag as the motor pulls the bit back out of the material. The smaller, flat cutting area on a ball bit is also easy to re-sharpen than the spiral two-flute bit I had been using.
Carry on,

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[raven]

There is s company that sells top quality CNC bits. IDC Woodcraft at (idcwoodcraft.com) - The owner Garrett Fromme is a great guy. He just had two new bits made, first is HOG and second is BEAST both are ( ¼' shanks roughing End Mills). These two bits were made in order to remove a lot of material in a short time. I believe he tested both on either Walnut or another hard wood. He also provides many learning lessons on using VCarve, and provides a downloads for Tool library. Check him out!!!

[eagle55]

Just to chime in. I have watched several of his videos and he is a very good instructor. I also realized that he has a big sales method behind his very good videos. Which there is nothing wrong with. I bought one of his “beast” bits but haven't had a chance to use it yet. He has demo trated long videos of its performance at what I would say is ungodly feed and speed rates and I can’t really doubt its performance at this point. I have compared his price on more common bits like 1/4” x 60 degree v bits and the were considerably higher than the whiteside bits that I use. I am wondering if they are worth the extra money and perform better to justify it. I have always rated brands like Whiteside and Amana to be among the best of bits and can’t see how some of his prices aren’t a bit high so wondering if anyone has any experience with his bits and can encourage me to pay more money for his. Clearly the “hog” and the “beast” if they can continually do what he demonstrates is worth the money but I am wondering about the simpler and more mundane bits.

[raven]

I know what you mean. I bought one of his simpler sets about 1 year ago and am still using them. Initially when I got my machine I also purchased the Amana ABS-900, 9 piece Master Collection, plus Amana 3 piece Inlay set, that Axiom was selling. I know that Whiteside and Amana are the best but I figured I couldn't loose too much. The new bit sets are made of rock-solid carbide (the same material journeyman machinists use to do metalwork), which is designed to last up to 10 times longer than traditional CNC router bits. I also have Axiom AR6 ProV5 and still learning VCarve Pro 11.5. Quick question, can the Z axis puck be left plugged in or does it have to be unplugged after setting Z axis? I have been unplugging it because I wasn't sure.

[grossmsj]

can the Z axis puck be left plugged in or does it have to be unplugged after setting Z axis?

It doesn't have to be unplugged, but IMO that would be a bad habit. The gantry could go in ways you don't expect and you could get the wire caught up. Better to develop safe habits and avoid catastrophes rather than save a few seconds here and there.

[eagle55]

That’s true it doesn't have to be unplugged when not in use. All it does is provide the ground that the bit is seeking when in “tool set” mode. I kind of agree with his view of you don’t want to give the cord the chance to get caught up in the gantry travel however if you could provide a way to keep that from happening and still leave it plugged in, that might be workable to. Early on I watched a “start to finish” video of someone showing the basics of the process. He did this same project I chose to do from his idea. His process instruction was good but I thought it was a hokey project…. Until I realized it was just what I needed. I did add a hook to make double sure the cord would stay out of the way but in actuality I rarely use it because there is no practical way for it to get caught. My paranoia was that if I kept the puck handy but not plugged in the bit would come down seeking a ground that wasn't there and drive the bit into the puck with a good amount of power and damage the puck, the bit and maybe the machine.

 So this hokey project, to me, seemed not to be so hokey after all. But grossmsj does have a good point also!

Sorry, forgot to add pics see next post. 

[eagle55]

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