Cutting speeds (Indymill)

🚧	This is very much likely to change - I'm still learning every day!

ℹ️	For Mecpow X3 Pro's cutting speeds, see Cutting Speeds (Mecpow X3 Pro)

I used a 500W china spindle for my tests.

Choice of material

All materials have benefits and drawbacks. This is my hitlist:

Materials

Material	Engraving	Cutting	Building	Price	Comments
PMMA	****-	****-	?	Given the result, it's allright!	Delicate to work on, but really nice looking result. And it's transparent! :)
Skid- and waterproof plywood	****-	****-	****-	Worth it!	Solid, no fray. Nice looking, too.
OSB	*----	**---	***--	It's cheap!	Mind you, the quality of OSB differs a lot! F.e. I found the 1690mm*634mm pieces that are cheaply sold in a near hardware store are really bad! They frayed a lot and were complete rubbish.
poplar plywood	*----	**---	**---	It's cheap!
pine plywood	*----	**---	**---	It's cheap!
beech plywood	**---	**---	**---	TBD

The softer the material, the more fray you get. If it is made of strands (flakes), it's even worse!

Plexiglas (PMMA)

Melts at 160°C (even earlier than your printer's PLA or PETG).

• More on PMMA at wikipedia
• Great tipps at CNC-Step
• Engraving tipps at CNC-Step

These are the main challenges:

• Make sure the chips leave the flute so they can't friction weld (dust shoe, compressed air)
• Finding the highest cutting volume (diameter*speed*attack) while keeping the tool as cool as possible

cutter	diameter (mm)	speed (mm/min)	plunge (mm/min)	attack (mm)	rpm	cooling	notes
single-flute	2.0	300	30	0.5	10,000	none	Great result, more should be doable!
single-flute	2.0	400	30	0.75	10,000	none	Looks good, might be the limit before it shows.
single-flute	3.175	100	50	0.5	10,000	none	Looks okay, but seems to be the limit. 300mm/min also tested, PMMA was melting.
single-flute	3.175	80	50	1.0	10,000	none	Too much. Melting after a couple of minutes (Attack 2.00 Speed 100 failed miserably with melting)
V-shaped engraving bit, 30°	0.1	300	50	0.1	10,000	none	Works fine, a little more should be doable.
V-shaped engraving bit, 30°	0.1	500	50	0.2	10,000	none	Too fast! Begins to melt!

Cutter diameter of 2.00mm seems to be the most viable method - maybe trying a higher speed is an option?

Poplar plywood (Pappelsperrholz)

cutter	diameter (mm)	plunge (mm/min)	speed (mm/min)	attack (mm)	rpm	cooling	notes
single-flute	2.0	30	300	2.0	10,000	none	Great result, more should be doable!
single-flute	2.0	80	500	2.0	10,000	none	Great result, more should be doable!
single-flute	3.175	80	500	3.0	10,000	none	Too much! Smells burnt!
single-flute	3.175	80	450	2.0	10,000	none	Okay, maybe a bit more?
single-flute	2.0	80	500	3.25	10,000	none	Great result, maybe the limit with this setup?

Pine plywood (Kiefersperrholz)

cutter	diameter (mm)	speed (mm/min)	attack (mm)	plunge (mm/min)	rpm	cooling	notes
single-flute	2.0	400	2.0	100	10,000	none	Works out fine, more speed should be possible.

OSB (Grobspanplatten)

cutter	diameter (mm)	speed (mm/min)	attack (mm)	plunge (mm/min)	rpm	cooling	notes
single-flute	3.175	500	0.75	80	10,000	none	Works out fine, more speed should be possible.
single-flute	3.175	555	1.00	127	10,000	none	Works out fine, more speed or attack should be possible.
single-flute	3.175	600	2.00	127	10,000	none	Works out fine, more speed or attack should be possible.
single-flute	3.175	600	3.05	127	10,000	none	I think that's the limit without more cooling or a different spindle. Maybe a little less might be better (2.5/500).
single-flute	3.175	600	2.5	127	10,000	none	This might be the best setting with 3.175mm cutter.
single-flute	2.0	600	TBD	127	10,000	none	TBD. If no pockets, and cutting depth is not too high, are needed, this might cut faster!

Spruce/fir solid (Fichte/Tanne Massivholz)

cutter	diameter (mm)	speed (mm/min)	attack (mm)	plunge (mm/min)	rpm	cooling	notes
single-flute	3.175	500	0.50	80	10,000	none	Easy.
single-flute	3.175	500	1.00	80	10,000	none	Easy, begins to smell of resin.
single-flute	3.175	500	1.50	80	10,000	none	Easy, slight smell of resin, not burnt
single-flute	3.175	500	2.00	80	10,000	none	Easy, slight smell of resin, not burnt
single-flute	3.175	500	2.50	80	10,000	none	Easy, slight smell of resin, not burnt
single-flute	3.175	500	2.75	80	10,000	none	Okay, cutter getting a bit warm. Not much further without cooling or modification.

Skid- and waterproof plywood (Siebdruckplatte/Fahrzeugplatte)

cutter	diameter (mm)	speed (mm/min)	attack (mm)	plunge (mm/min)	rpm	cooling	notes
single-flute	3.175	500	1.50	80	10,000	none	Works good for cutting, wood getting a little warm - a little more might be possible
single-flute	2.000	600	2.00	80	10,000	none	No problem, more should be possible!
single-flute	2.000	600	2.50	80	10,000	none	TBD
metal	2.000	120	2.00	80	10,000	none	Works good for engraving, if the vaccumer annoys you, leave it off - dirt won't fly that far…
metal	1.000	120	2.00	80	10,000	none	Too fast, smoking...
metal	1.000	80	2.00	80	10,000	none	TBD

Beechwood (Buchenholz)

cutter	diameter (mm)	speed (mm/min)	attack (mm)	plunge (mm/min)	rpm	cooling	notes
single-flute	3.175	400	1.50	80	10,000	none	UNTESTED!
single-flute	2.000	600	2.00	80	10,000	none	UNTESTED!

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