Best Woods for CNC Monograms
I recently purchased an Axiom machine that has been performed well so far. I'm just getting into CNC but the focus right now is with cutting monogram initials and letters for bedrooms and front door hangers.
1/2" MDF cuts like butter with 1/4" 2x Downflute Amana @ 15k RPMs and 130 in/min @ 1/8" cut depth per pass.
The cut time for a 20" door hanger is about 25mins, which I'm satisfied with. However, I want to steer clear of MDF because I've read that the dust is very harmful compared to other materials. It is also not good for outdoor use as I understand due to its absorption of moisture.
Other hangers like these on Etsy are being made from 1/2" Baltic birch -- so I tried this material and initially had a lot of tear-out on the bottom side of the material with the downflute. I fixed this with a 3/8" Amana compression bit but the chipload is much less so right now the feed is only 15-40 in/min @ ~15,000 RPMs and 0.1" depth per pass. These take around an hour a piece to cut.
Just looking for some insight here to get the material requirements (safer dust, good outdoor material) and faster cut times.
The key machine specs are
Max RPM: 24,000
Spindle motor: 2.2 kW liquid cooled
Max rapid speed: 200 in/mi
Based on this is there a better way to cut the baltic birch faster (100+ in/min)?
Or..
Is there another material that can be cut quickly using a tool with higher chipload? I've seen mentions of white pines, alderwood and some others but only worked with 1/2" BB and 1/2" MDF.