trying to improve my board game

[cubikoman]

Hi all,

I just collected a cnc machine that I won on ebay.

Initially I will be working with 3.6mm ply. I need to cut out 60mm circles, 72mm squares and make 1mm grooves.

A 3mm end mill came with the machine is it a good tool to cut ply?

I imagine it is better to get the tooling set up right before starting to try and make cuts so can anyone advise me...
1)what tool would be best to cut out circles/squares in 3.6mm ply?
2)What tool would be best to cut a 1mm wide groove, 1.5mm deep
3)What speed should be set for the spindle?
4)What speed should I set for the spindle to track around the toolpath?
5)Can 3.6mm be cut in one pass?

thanks,
Gavin

[Jonathan]

what machine did you get in the end gavin? if you dont mind me asking.

We can't safely answer question 5 without knowing!

1) If you want to do it in one cut, then at least 3mm I think.
2) Does it have to be only 1mm? 1mm tools are not cheap and your feedrate will be limited. If you really need a 1mm groove then a circular saw/slitting saw would be faster.
3) Depends on the size of the tool. In general the smaller the tool the higher the spindle speed. If the tool gets too hot reduce the spindle speed. Google it.
4) Depends on the diameter of the tool, depth of cut and all sorts, again google it.
5) Depends on how rigid your machine is. But probably yes.

[cubikoman]

I don't mind chip :-)

I won this routout machine... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

which meant I finally got round to putting a lock on the shed.

I should be able to tweak the game to allow for a 2mm groove. Anyway, I just ordered a 2mm left-hand spiral flute from Drill-service.com. Can you tell I'm eager to get going?