I've been using LCNC quite a bit (for me). In the photo there are two steel spring collars that were entirely done with the mill. I could have left them as large disks with just a stepped hole and the set screw holes but what's the fun in that. http://www.autoartisans.com/mill/SpindleControl/TrialFitOnSpindleCover-1.jpg The spindle cover casting (10lbs of scrap aluminium) was machined in the places I needed flat surfaces and to get rid of a bit of sag in the casting mostly for looks. I'd occasionally spray a bit of WD-40 but mostly just held the shop vac to clean up the chips. http://www.autoartisans.com/mill/SpindleControl/SpindleCoverplate-4.jpg Essentially between 1000 and 2000 RPM, 2 flute 1/2" end mill, 25% step over, about 2.5 to 5 IPM IPM and a depth of cut of about 0.1" for each pass. This created chips that did not melt onto the tool bit and left a quite nice smooth finish. But with those parameters it did take quite a while. OTOH, it ran automatically and other than check on it periodically and vacuum or blow away chips I could do other things nearby. If I enter the parameters into Machinist Toolbox with a target RPM of 1500 I see it suggests a tool feed rate of 21 IPM. I think that would melt the chips without flood coolant. Since I didn't want to screw it up and have to cast it all over again I was very conservative. Was I too conservative on this? It's been suggested by a friend who runs MACH3 that he dials in a much faster feed and spindle rate and then hauls back on the sliders to reduce it to very slow and then in small steps bumps up the speed until it feels right.
Suggestions are welcome. Thanks John
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