Paul Phillips
07-19-2010, 7:33 PM
Hi guys, I mostly hang out in the laser forum so this is my first post in the CNC forum. I have been running two MultiCam CNC machines for the last 10 years so hopefully I will have some experience I can share, and I always look to learn something new from others. I come from a little different perspective than most here though since I am an employee for a large sign company, and most people here seem to own their own business.
I am very impressed with the quality of work that I have seen from those who have posted pictures on here. You woodworkers are amazing; I wish I had time to learn some of what I’ve seen you guys do. I make signs for a living though so most of my experience is in that area.
I have two machines and like to keep one dedicated to cutting aluminum and one for everything else. I have one machine that is a 50”x120” table with a 4hp Colombo spindle and stepper drive motors. I use this one for aluminum since we do a lot of channel letters and lighted cabinets. My other machine is a 49”x97” table with a 5.5hp high frequency (32000rpm) Colombo spindle with 6 bit tool changer and uses servo drive motors. This machine is great for acrylics. When I want to put a near polished edge on some thick acrylic letters I use this at max rpm’s on my finish pass.
I like to use mostly Onsrud single edge 0 flute end mills when I can, especially for aluminum, I find it leaves a nice edge, has good feed rates and leaves nice big waste chips vs. small slivers that always seem to get under your skin and stick to everything when I use double fluted bits.
When cutting aluminum I always try to use 5052 alloy when possible because it seems to cut faster than a harder alloy like 6061. I cut a lot of letters out of .25” 5052 sheet for making stud mounted letters. I found that to save time doing a tool change I use a 5/32” End Mill to do both the drill holes into the backs of the letters and then cut out the shapes, then I can take the letters to the drill press with the auto tapper and tap them with a #10-24 tap, then the letters are ready for prep and paint. That way on a large run of letters I can just let the job run while I do something else.
Here are a few pics of some of the signs I have worked on.
156232
156234
156235
156236
156237
I am very impressed with the quality of work that I have seen from those who have posted pictures on here. You woodworkers are amazing; I wish I had time to learn some of what I’ve seen you guys do. I make signs for a living though so most of my experience is in that area.
I have two machines and like to keep one dedicated to cutting aluminum and one for everything else. I have one machine that is a 50”x120” table with a 4hp Colombo spindle and stepper drive motors. I use this one for aluminum since we do a lot of channel letters and lighted cabinets. My other machine is a 49”x97” table with a 5.5hp high frequency (32000rpm) Colombo spindle with 6 bit tool changer and uses servo drive motors. This machine is great for acrylics. When I want to put a near polished edge on some thick acrylic letters I use this at max rpm’s on my finish pass.
I like to use mostly Onsrud single edge 0 flute end mills when I can, especially for aluminum, I find it leaves a nice edge, has good feed rates and leaves nice big waste chips vs. small slivers that always seem to get under your skin and stick to everything when I use double fluted bits.
When cutting aluminum I always try to use 5052 alloy when possible because it seems to cut faster than a harder alloy like 6061. I cut a lot of letters out of .25” 5052 sheet for making stud mounted letters. I found that to save time doing a tool change I use a 5/32” End Mill to do both the drill holes into the backs of the letters and then cut out the shapes, then I can take the letters to the drill press with the auto tapper and tap them with a #10-24 tap, then the letters are ready for prep and paint. That way on a large run of letters I can just let the job run while I do something else.
Here are a few pics of some of the signs I have worked on.
156232
156234
156235
156236
156237