Cutting Boards

[pyrojon]

I picked up a nylon cutting board today to see how it cut and machined, egads does it cut like crap. It melts and binds up like I have never seen before.

This material is used pretty heavily from what I can tell, how do you guys machine it? Can anyone give me any clues that would make the job easier?

Jon

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[pen25]

slow your speed. slow your feed rate.

[ger21]

What are you cutting it with? Usually melting is caused by feeding too slow.

[pyrojon]

Just trying to square it on my table saw.

As I cut it melts and "puddles" behind the blade, creating these gobs of molten plastic that stick to the board and really make a mess of things.

I tried the band saw and it cuts better but I still get some melting, unfortunatly the band saw isn't really the best tool when you are trying to get straight cuts.

[Marc]

What I do is put masking tape on both side of the plastic material I want to cut and it works like a charm, try it
Marc..

[chuckknigh]

I cut mine on my bandsaw, and it cut effortlessly. Of course, the blade has so little thermal mass, and such a huge surface area that it wouldn't build up heat!

-- Chuck Knight

[pen25]

i thought melting ment spindle or feedrate was too fast and not balanced. I know you want to cut it faster speeds and slower spindle isnt it? I am a noob so i am not 100% sure.

[LeeWay]

I think the main problem is the type of cutting board material. The cheap boards are real bad about melting. There is some nicer cutting board material that is sold at US Plastics called Sanatec. This is some very nice stuff. It comes in different colors and is 1/2" thick. Mills just like true UHMW and costs less. Great stuff to work with and its very slick and ridgid as well.

[musicmkr]

I don't know what you're cutting with, but try something with fewer cutting surfaces. Something like a one or two flute end mill, or a narrow wood router bit should work well. Make shallower cuts and with your spindle set to a slower speed setting. Don't be afraid to add a few Z axis "pull outs" into your G-code to give the tool a chance to cool off between operations. As always a little liquid for coolant will help as well.

[ger21]

Make a sliding cutoff sled for your table saw, so you can cut faster safely. And maybe try making light cuts and raising the blade a little each time.

[pyrojon]

Thanks for all the advice. I am sure it will be helpfull.


As for the cutting boards, I recall that the plan calls for 3/4" adjustment blocks, are there 3/4" cutting boards out there somewhere that I havn't found yet?

Thanks again
Jon

[joecnc2006]

I was able to cut it with not problem on CNC here is a link to the picture.

Slow down spindle, and feed rate slightly.

http://cnczone.com/forums/showthread...7&page=2&pp=10

Joe

[Cold Fusion]

When I cut Lexan I have to feed it fairly fast to keep it from melting. 2 flute endmill at 13,000 rpms and 20ipm should leave a nice finish.

[pen25]

well this is great info because ill be cutting some bearings soon.

[pyrojon]

Yes, All great info, I will keep it in mind when I try to cut it on my CNC machine. For now I am using a table saw.

After trying again I find that I can get "reasonable" results by making my passes at only about 1/16" - 1/8" depth and doing two passes for each depth. The first cuts through and leaves a mess, the second cleans up the mess.

[Glidergider]

pyrojon,
I think you have some bad low temp plastic. All cutting boards are not created equal. I recently lucked into a source of HDPE cutting boards that don't melt. It makes all the difference in the world. I recently went back to my low temp plastics, to cut some parts. The results were so bad I just trashed it and resumed with the good stuff.
Good luck.