Good afternoon. I had some conversation on another forum about feeds/speeds and got great feedback from experts. One piece was that I should be running my router at slower RPM and my feed rate at higher IPM to produce the correct chip load, BUT I should be sure my machine was stout enough to handle the faster IPM. So my question is how do I know if the machine is stout enough? Is there a spec or is it just a matter of trial and error for whatever material/bit I'm using? For example, solid walnut with a 1/4 inch two-flute carbide end mill. Amana's recommended chip load is 0.0031" with 18,000 RPM and 110 IPM at 1/4 inch depth. (I never run that depth with a 1/4" end mill, but anyway...) Does that RPM/IPM sound reasonable and would the LEAD 1010 or LEAD 1515 run that? Am I asking the question correctly? Thx, rink.
Well, the math is correct but Amana may be basing that on an industrial machine? You don't want your machine laboring, so I would maintain the chip/rpm/FR calculation but try a 1/8th depth of cut first and see how that performs - you can always up the DOC if it can take it. Dropping the RPM and upping the IPM as someone suggested, will result in a higher chip load. For example, at 12,000 rpm and 150 inches/min, would double the chip load.
