If you were cutting 1" Polystyrene "Ultraboard" and the smallest cutter you had in a double fluted spiral upcut endmill was 5/16", what feed rate and RPM would you use?
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
slow rpm and fast feed speed.. move them chips fast or it will melt.
Posted by Dave Draper (Member # 102) on :
I had trouble with the pink (or blue ) extruded polystyrene melting to the bit. We used a spray bottle of water to mist the bit and the area ahead of the cut. It helped a little.
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
update The how-to on Alumapanel's site recommends a 3/16" double fluted up-spiral cutter with a feed rate of .85 in/sec(slow) and 18k rpm . My smallest cutter is a 5/16" and the closest the router sets to that is 19k so I set the rpm to 19k@ .85 in/sec and it cut the stuff very nicely; much smoother than the higher rpm and faster feed I had tried. I'm happy with it. Thanks
Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster (Member # 3500) on :
Interersting...
I did some 3D routing of styrene a few months ago, with a ballnose cutter, and the static made the stuff go everywhere. I went fast, as if I was cutting HDU, and it worked out 'just right'.
However that was a refrigeration styrene that is pretty stable-not affected by turps, metho, or thinners. It wasn't standard polysryrene the white stuff used for packaging etc.
