I use a straight bit because i find the finish to be better in cutting acrylic.
Cnc best way to mill down a sheet of acrylic.
I use them all but prefer the straight.
You will never get the best results using wood bits to cut acrylic as cutting and chip removal is key.
Can get in the way of cutter or dust shroud.
We recommend using a bit designed for acrylic cutting.
If you read online many posts will have you use the largest diameter end mill that you can.
Towards the bottom you will see charts for various types of material.
While you can use bits of all sizes it s generally advisable to use the largest bit possible for your design as this increases depth possible stability and removal of waste material.
I have used a magnetic chuck on our old tired manual bridgeport mill when cutting steel.
Large pieces of flat stock securing other fixtures.
What kind of acrylic is better for cnc machining typically acrylic blanks are manufactured using two methods.
We found that we get the best results using an o flute end mill.
Fast and easy to use.
Fast once set up.
Typically with acrylic the wider diameter the mill the glassier the finish.
Our customers typically get the best results using o flute end mill bits.
As an example we recently helix drilled an acrylic part with a 2mm single flute end mill at 20 000 rpm and a feed rate of 10 inches per minute with 1 0mm z infeed.
Of course i put a very thin spoil board under the work.
Up spirals tend to lift the part and down spirals shove the material into the spoilboard.
I recommend getting the onsrud catalog honestly love their bits too personally.
I have also used high strength magnets such as the magsquare 600 to hold thin sheets of aluminum galvanized steel and acrylic to the machine s cast iron table for cutting.
Acrylic thickness from using both methods usually varies from 1 5 to 25 mm.
Production parts larger than 10 square inches with a flat bottom surface.
I took a 2 flute 1 2 inch bit through acrylic and it came out looking magical.
Holds down the entire part with even.
When we cut acrylic sheet with paper masking you can actually see grooves in the cutter where it s cutting through the masking.