CNC and plexiglass

[Nemezis]

hello all.

Anybody knows what type of bits # of flute (coating?) and speeds are required to avoid clocking a 2mm bit when working with 5mm plexiglass?

Thanks

[Darth Chasm]

Spiral 'O' single or 2 flute upward cut bits are what is recommended. I am not versed enough to give advice on feeds and speeds but most good tool makers provide decent info on that for each tool.

You want cast acrylic, not extruded. Extruded melts and cracks much easier.

[Nemezis]

Thanks, I'll try it on Acrylic plates indeed.

[Nemezis]

Acrylic was the way to go.
I had a small piece of 3,4mm left somewhere, did a test and it's clearly the way to go.
No more cloaking even on a 4 flutes bit @  6000RPM

Thanks a lot for the trick.

[Darth Chasm]

I just recently got into cnc router work and mainly for acrylic so I’ve been doing some research. Glad I could share some of what I’ve found.

[Nemezis]

Yeah, that was a valuable info for me. Saved me lot of  research and reading.
Thanks mate.

Some prototypes in Acrylic (and wood)

[Darth Chasm]

Lookin good 

[SirRawThunderMan]

Nice. 

I really want to try that out now, but the router I have access to normally is in storage and won't be out until 2021 at the earliest. oh well.

[Nemezis]

CNC are really nice for fast proto's.
Mine was initially built for wood but is pretty stable for small parts.. I still have some vibration though and I have to find out why.

What you guys are you using for CNC's? Own build or off the shelf?

[Darth Chasm]

I got the sainsmart 4030 proverxl. Got three cuts from it, then one of the servos crapped out. They’re supposed to be sending a replacement.

[Nemezis]

Woaw.. you burned a Nema23 
4030 is a good size for our type of projects.. just strange you burned it after only 3 cuts..

[Darth Chasm]

Not sure what happened. It just stopped moving. So i took it off and sure enough there were two points in the rotation that had a substantial amount of resistance and required quite a bit of hand torque to get past.

[Nemezis]

unpowered and blocking, Yeah, it's definitely abnormal. Have you tried to open it up to see what might have caused this? (I'm sorry, bad habit I have, I can't help myself unmounting everything)