Newbie- Need some small mill advise please

[Mr. D]

(I posted this in the woodworking section but I thought that you guys could help out too since dymondwood has cutting characteristics of aluminium.)

Hello, Im making pistol grips out of Dymondwood and I have a question about which mill and cutter to get.

This is what I'm doing.
I start with a piece of dymondwood 5"x5" and 3/8" thick.
I need to plane a 3" wide, and approx 1/16" deep groove down the middle of the piece.
Also, ideally I need a 45 degree angle on the edges of the grooves.

I've tried doing it by hand, using a router, a thickness sander, and a Wagner safety planer on my drill press (not a good idea with dymondwood). None of these methods turn out perfect enough for me to be satisfied. And I'm getting tired of buying things that just don't quite work out. So after much research I realize I may need a small mill to get the precision I'm after.

I dont have a lot of $ to spend so I'd like to get something that will do the job and not be overkill. All I need to do is plane down that 1/16".
I've been looking at the X1 and X2 mills and I don't know which one to go with. Also I'm thinking that I may need a fly cutter to do the planing. I'd like to do the planing in one pass if possible.

So does anyone know if the X1 would be able to handle planing down dymondwood?
Is there a cutter that would make a 3" cut with a 45 degree angle?

Any help of info is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

[Jeff-Birt]

I had to look up what Dymondwood was, it is a wood composite impregnated with color and plastic? The manufacturer has a limited amount to say about machining it here: http://www.rutply.com/pdf/RPC-DymondWood_web.pdf. From the sound of what you are trying to do I would suspect that a 90 deg 'V' carbide router bit would give you the 45 deg beveled sides. You could also use a 'sign makers bit', basically a 'V' bit with a flat bottom. That might let you do the whole cut with a single bit.

[Mr. D]

Thanks for the idea Jeff.
I tried using a router but I'm hoping I can find a quicker, easier, and cleaner way.
Ideally I'd like to just run the piece through the mill once and get the cut.

[hoss2006]

A 45 degree face mill would do the job.
This 3 incher from Shars is R8 so you'd need the X2 at least with a belt conversion.
I've used a 3 incher cutting aluminum and cast iron on mine.
Hoss

[Mr. D]

Thanks for the info Hoss.
I was afraid that I'd need the X2 + the belt conversion.
I was hoping to get away with just getting the X1.
But that set up certainly seems like it will be the answer to my problems.
I'll have to come up with some more things to do with the mill to justify
spending that much.

[Mr. D]

Can anyone recommend what length of vertical DRO to get for the X2?

[hoss2006]

I used a 12 incher for the Z but you can get an 8 inch now.
800watt on Ebay is where I got mine, they have an 8 inch for about $20.
Hoss

[Mr. D]

Thanks again Hoss.

Do you think that there is a type of fly cutter I could use to get the job done?

[hoss2006]

Sure, these from LMS are only 1/2 inch shank which could fit a collet on an X1.
The X1 might not have enough power and rpm to get a good finish though.
No problem for the X2 with a belt conversion.
You would grind the tool for it and could put a 45 degree edge on it.
They are listed under Chris' tips.
Hoss