Mill tooling for a wood project

I did wood and metal work in the same shop for years, finally have separate shops. My biggest complaint was dust from grinding and sanding metal getting on the wood and marking it. I don't think wood shavings are particularly abrasive, can't see them causing much of a wear issue, might even hold oil on the machined surfaces and prevent wear.
I don't use the mill a lot for wood but its hard to beat for some operations.
Making a Queen Ann leg for a dresser.
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Making the runners for table wings.

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I do use the mill a lot for building router templates out of plexiglass when making stairs or hinge recesses. I have brass guides that fit the router bases, they run along the edge of the templates.

Hard to beat the Hardinge for precision wood turning.
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Greg
 
I too have used both. The big word/situation is occasional! Certain things do not go well together on a long term basis, oil and unfinished wood for one. The natural acids of some woods and metal as well. Spindle speeds as said can be solved, but the important ingredient is sharpness! For me I do try and keep the options separate as much as possible.
One big positive of combining wood and metalworking is it seems to force me to keep it "cleaner".
 
I use my shop vac while I am machining wood on the mill and always look for any debris on the ways. One hand holding the hose close to the cutter, the other hand operating the handle on the table.

Thank you!
Is your mill manual or CNC? If you already have a VFD then you should be able to reconfigure your belts and set the vfd to get higher RPMs. With most CNC router work with wood, the spindle speed is in the 10k-12k range and 2 fluted bits work best but you're talking about roughly 100ipm cut speeds. 4 flute bits just seem to create more heat and cause burning issues and lower cut quality. Cut speeds too slow will also cause burning and dull the bits quickly. A spiral downbit will cause the least tear-out on the top edges/surface and cut speeds are slower to allow for chip evacuation. Up-cut bits will clear the chips much better and leave a better finish on the bottom of the cut. Compression bits do both best but can be a bit pricey. If you are running the mill manually (or CNC), make a few practice cuts to find the best RPM and cut speed combo. If you only use the mill for occasionally cutting wood, You can always fabricate a simple router or spindle mount for your mill. Small variable speed routers are fairly inexpensive and with it setup to allow you to quickly attach/remove it, you would have no problem cutting mortise's, tenons, and other tasks etc with good results. If your mill is CNC then an additional high speed spindle/router mount allows lots of possibilities and your only restriction is work size. A manual mill with a router mount will allow precision that is nearly impossible to replicate with a hand router or router table. Wood dust is the only concern, but a good shop vac and a dust shoe with a brush skirt would be a good option.

Great info!!!! Thank you very much. (Manual mill BTW).
I did wood and metal work in the same shop for years, finally have separate shops. My biggest complaint was dust from grinding and sanding metal getting on the wood and marking it. I don't think wood shavings are particularly abrasive, can't see them causing much of a wear issue, might even hold oil on the machined surfaces and prevent wear.
I don't use the mill a lot for wood but its hard to beat for some operations.
Making a Queen Ann leg for a dresser.
View attachment 253292

Making the runners for table wings.

View attachment 253293

I do use the mill a lot for building router templates out of plexiglass when making stairs or hinge recesses. I have brass guides that fit the router bases, they run along the edge of the templates.

Hard to beat the Hardinge for precision wood turning.
View attachment 253299
View attachment 253300

Greg

Thanks Greg! Appreciate the good info!
 
Finally getting around to this... integrating all the wonderful advice and wondering one more thing. Is the concept of the rough cut followed by the finishing cut valid and useful for wood too? Sounds like there's a lot of smart guys here so curious about opinions. Thanks.
 
I do a lot of woodworking projects, flat (non-turning) and turning.

I also know the issues with fixed shop space and having to make room for new machines.

I have used my metal lathe and milling machine for wood as well as metal projects.

I now feel that routers spin far too fast, much faster than needed to cut / shape the wood.

A recent example. I am using the milling machine to make a trivet. The slots in this side are cut across the grain. I was using 4 flute 5/8in diameter end mill, a recent purchase as in weeks earlier without much use.

The spindle speed was 960 rpm. I noticed the burn marks. I then slowed the spindle down to 560 rpm and did not get any burning.

I have the same experience with cherry, but I am not recalling the project so not able to find any pictures as I write this post.

The tearout on the surface milling across the grain is expected.

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A different project from last week, happens to also be hickory. This surface was milled flat. I did not get everything cleaned up, some of the rough saw marks from the lumber mill seen on the right.

This is off the milling machine, not sanded. Spindle speed was 1200 rpm.

I used a 3 flute carbide insert end mill from Shars. Working well.

The burn marks are from not feeding fast enough.
you should consider a downcut spiral bit or compression bit to reduce the tearout. Yes they are ww bits, but they are made to reduce the issues I see. The biggest reason for burning is usually too slow a feed rate. I have watched so many push slow through a tablesaw too. Heat is created the longer the blade is in the wood. Same with a band saw.
 
I'm running 1725 rpm on my 2 flute carbide insert on my router plane

What a great buzzing sound.
For perspective, what's the size of that slab and cutter?

Thanks
-brino
 
Thats brilliant, rest assured Im stealing your idea at some point.

Greg
 
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