My first gear, a deadbeat escapement gear for my clock

[clockman]

It's nice to see quality workmanship and a craftsmen at work. I only hope I can produce something of this standard when I finally get my Zen mill operational.

That is kind, but this is my first one, I would do so much of it differently next time

Please could I ask a few questions which would help a first-timer who's trying to get started? It would be realy helpfull to know what thickness of wood your cutting,the size/type of drill bit and the velocity/speed settings your using in Mach3 (speed of movement along the axes rather than spindle rotation speed).

I use 1/4 or 1/2 birch plywood and the end mill is 1.5 mm. The speed does matter but it is very much a mixture of router speed and the feed rate of the mill. It is easy to such it and see, the test I use is the colour of the sawdust, you will quickly see if there is too much heat. Also if you start with a slow feed rate the end mill is less likely to break, I use throw away end mills and in the beginning I broke a lot of them!!!

I'm eager to avoid charring the wood or breaking the workpiece / not to mention overheating the spindle or breaking the mill bit/cutter. Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing the finished clock. Eastgate

When you get your mill up and running create a simple shape in Mach 3 and give it a go, only go for -1mm cutting depth to start with and try to keep the Z clearance (movement above the work) to about +2mm then it wont mark the work when it moves to a new location.

Good luck, its fun