Surfacing a slab of end grain ash and having several issues. Worktable and machine are level, router is trammed, tried fast feed rates with slow spindle speed, shallow depth of cut, deeper cut, etc., and bit continues to chatter and sometimes burn the material; the odd time the bit catches in the wood. I have gone through a Makita router and dont want to go through another until I determine what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hello @Cadennisa, welcome to the group.
Without knowing how big your surfacing bit is, I would try a smaller one and see if that works better. I only have a couple of cutting boards for experience with surfacing end grain but I think I’d try that. I have a 4 tooth 40mm surfacing bit I use for my spoil board but usually surface projects with 0.5’', 13mm or smaller end mill.
The smaller bits have some advantages. The speed at the outside edge is slower for any given RPM, any tram issues are less pronounced, and the cutting forces are lower. The do however take longer.
Just a thought, and it’s the only thing you don’t mention trying that I can think to try.
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Thank you…I have tried a 1.5" and 1.25" bit but will try smaller. What feed rate and depth of cut settings would you suggest?
Well, ultimately it will depend on what type of mill you have. I have a LongMill Mk1 and I tend to be conservative only taking of 0.5-1mm per pass and I’ll start with what I think my mill can handle 1500-2500mm/min which is about 60-80"/min. Then I can use the feed rate override to go up to twice what I started with in gSender.
But this is usually with wood that isn’t too far out of whack to start with so I don’t need that many passes even at 0.5-1mm. And my projects aren’t usually super large so that’s something to consider. What is acceptable to me time wise for a 6"x12" board is gonna take forever if your project is 4’x8’.
The way I look at it feed rate is adjustable while running so I don’t have to be perfect there and I’d rather start with a shallower cut and go deeper the next pass if I think I can.