Newbie Is it possible to mill carbon fiber or G10 at slow speeds?

Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Is it possible to mill carbon fiber or G10 at slow speeds?

  1. #1
    Registered
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    2
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Is it possible to mill carbon fiber or G10 at slow speeds?

    Hi guys,

    I am part way through my G0704 CNC conversion and am looking to start figuring out some tooling. This is my first adventure into the world of machining so please excuse me for the forum sins that I may be committing. I have searched about this topic for the last week and could not find anything that seemed to answer my question to my satisfaction.

    One of the things that I wanted to do with this CNC machine was mill some knife handles out of G10 and carbon fiber which would be from somewhat thin sheets. I know that diamond coated endmills are the best for this but they are pricey and look to require some pretty high speeds which the stock spindle on my machine cannot deliver, max speed is ~2200. Delamination is the highest priority as I can live with a long cycle time that I would think come with not being able to spin the endmill fast.

    Has anyone had experience doing what I am looking to do? I was also hoping to get some links to products.

    Thank you for any help you guys can give.

    Similar Threads:


  2. #2
    Member jalessi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    4553
    Downloads
    1
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Is it possible to mill carbon fiber or G10 at slow speeds?

    Steveo290,

    Give John Grimsmo a shout, he probably has some good advice to share.



    Welcome to the Zone,

    Jeff...

    Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.


  3. #3

    Default Re: Is it possible to mill carbon fiber or G10 at slow speeds?

    Hi,

    I've been machining performance composites for quite a long time now. Diamond tools are not necessary for your application. You can get a good result with the right geometry of tool rather than focussing on the coating of the tool. High end tools are for production applications. Start with something similar to the burr style offered by Garr in their 700 series.

    In machining we should talk in terms of cutting speed and feed per tooth, if you're max RPM is 2200 you need to use a larger diameter to try and keep the cutting speed up. I would suggest a 10mm cutter and 2200 RPM (2500 would be optimal for this diameter). Then for the burr type feed at about 400mm/min and experiment with more or less based on what sounds right / minimal vibration. Extract that dust! Not just for the health reasons, but to remove heat from the cutter. Depth of cut will be driven by how rigid your machine is. That cutter can take up to about 10mm DOC under the right conditions through CFRP but if your on a light weight machine you will need to limit the depth to about 1mm at a time.



  4. #4
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    683
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Is it possible to mill carbon fiber or G10 at slow speeds?

    Believe it of not I get the best results from the cheap carbide tipped router bits you can get at any hardware store and a low RPM. My first CNC was slow so that's how I did it and made hundreds of CF and G10 parts. One benefit of this is you don't get the dust like you do with a high speed spindle. The bits are cheap, and are straight so no delam.



Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  


About CNCzone.com

    We are the largest and most active discussion forum for manufacturing industry. The site is 100% free to join and use, so join today!

Follow us on


Our Brands

Is it possible to mill carbon fiber or G10 at slow speeds?

Is it possible to mill carbon fiber or G10 at slow speeds?