Speeds and feeds calculations for wood

[charlie_luna]

Hey everyone..i'm scratching my head on what to use for the CS and feed per tooth for wood. i have charts for different metals and the feed per tooth for a range of endmill sizes. but nowhere is there to be found any of this stuff for wood. i need cutting speed of wood and any feed per tooth numbers for wood if it matters. i know the formulas to use so i don't need those. thanks!!

[multiplex]

what type of machine do you have?

[ger21]

https://www.onsrud.com/xdoc/FeedSpeeds

[MarkT]

I have worked in both industries. Endmills are not router bits, the grind is entirely different and to a substantial degree. Wood is not metal, it is almost impossible to make a correlation between the two. Generally speaking, assuming you have the right cutter, speed and feed selection for a router bit / wood is much more forgiviing than for metal ( much broader band). It is also in a much higher rpm band and feed rate band. Your tooling salesman is the first place to start to get baseline feed and speed information to maximize the life of your cutters. It is also a very good practice to maintain a good relationship with the salesman when you encounter different materials that you need more insight on.
That said - the majority of my customers cutting MDF / plywood with a 1/2" solid carbide router bit run from 15000-18000rpm and from 8MPM(320ipm) - 15MPM (590ipm). Alot of things influence this - pod and rail or flat table, condition of the router, condition of the vaccuum system, to name a few. Melamine and solid wood are a different application also.
Hope this helps!

Mark T.
www.cnccustomservices.com

[charlie_luna]

i actually have figured this out already. maximum RPM and fastest IPM allowable for the tool since wood is more forgiving than metal. tested and proved in the shop by me.

[Bob La Londe]

Ger gave me numbers for a cut recently that were similar to that thought, but he also mentioned something I found important. With most woods you can take it easy (not to easy) and get a good finish or cut aggressively and the cutter will last longer. Somewhere in between worked for me. Also, I picked up some downcut router bits for wood, and they worked much better than endmills or the regular retail store router bits. I used bits for the job from 1/4 down to 3/32.