I had problems trying to cut out parts for a toy steam locomotive from maple wood on my CNC router but I thought that maple wood is too hard for my CNC router to cut. I thought that I tightened the hold-down clamps but the router bit had problems cutting out the parts from 1/4" thick maple wood using 1/4" straight bit with 1/8" passes and 1/8" stepover. Would the feed rate be too fast? I used 20 IPM feed rate. What about spindle speed?

What is the spindle you're using, and how fast? Id cut as fast as you can, at no more than 20,000 rpm, and take shallower cuts if you need to. Your bits are probably dulling quickly from the heat generated by going too slow at too high of rpm.

I'm using DeWalt Trim Router as spindle and a router speed control set at number 5 (about 15000RPM).

When you say you have problems, what exactly is the problem? Is the trimmer slowing down and stalling? If so, try speeding it up a little. Lighter cuts, and new, sharp tools will also help. But the laminate trimmer is probably a bit underpowered.

When you say you have problems, what exactly is the problem? Is the trimmer slowing down and stalling? If so, try speeding it up a little. Lighter cuts, and new, sharp tools will also help. But the laminate trimmer is probably a bit underpowered.

100% agree.

You might want to try a regular spiral flute end mill and increase the feed rate to 80-100ipm. Works great on my mill.

Paul

I think that my trim router was slowing down and stalling, and pushing the piece of maple wood instead of cutting it. The fastest feed rate on my CNC router is 20 IPM. Increasing the spindle speed helped. I think that upspiral flute bits should not be used on 1/4" thick wood. I built my CNC router because I didn't have the money for a commercial CNC router.

I think that my trim router was slowing down and stalling, and pushing the piece of maple wood instead of cutting it. The fastest feed rate on my CNC router is 20 IPM. Increasing the spindle speed helped. I think that upspiral flute bits should not be used on 1/4" thick wood. I built my CNC router because I didn't have the money for a commercial CNC router.

I agree with paul... I think you may need to look at the cutter your using. the feeds and speeds are all hooked together and even a short cut run wrong can screw up a bit really quick. a great place to try and get a handle on what speed bits need to work right is the Onsrude router bit sight. they talk in depth about cutting and such.
you can most certainly use an up cut/spiral bit for 1/4" stock. but more importantly you will need to look at the finish you want on the surface.... both top and bottom... you may want to use a straight cut, up cut, down cut, or compression bit to fit your needs.

a great place to get good, but cheap bits is http://www.centuriontools.com/
they are good bits at a fair price. and they dont mind calls to answer questions.

Ertik

if you have no chip flow, especially at high spindle speeds, all you will see is smoke.

I would suggest turning your spindle as low as it will go and try running at 20 ipm. You might be surprised at how efficiently it will cut, not to mention the decreased noise factor. This assumes that you have reasonable horsepower.

Regular sprial upcut endmills can be used on virtually all materials, and work well on wood.

At 20k rpm and 20ipm, you are sure to overheat and dull your cutter very quickly, which is where you will see the material pushing and smoke.
Paul