T8 engraver to laminate


Author Message
zeitfest
Guru

Joined: 31/07/2019
Location: Australia
Posts: 566
Posted: 11:22pm 17 Mar 2025      

Ages ago I got a little T8 CNC. Finally getting to try something
useful with it, using bits of grbl. It is running OK mostly,
needs reset after spindle starts so I will have to look at cleaning
up the power supply sometime.

The cutter supplied looks like a  thin wedge of carbide. Using it
is fine for a shallow cut is fine but the cut metal edge is a bit ragged
and has to be cleaned up. The material is thin laminate 3mm, two Al sheets
with HDPE between.

A rookie question, how do you get sharp cuts ? Would a different cutting bit be worth the expense ?
Edited 2025-03-18 09:22 by zeitfest

phil99

Guru

Joined: 11/02/2018
Location: Australia
Posts: 2558
Posted: 12:04am 18 Mar 2025      

Some possibilities:-
a) Reduce the feed rate.
b) Multiple passes, a shallow cut first then incrementally deeper till you get the required width.
c) Multiple passes, shallow cuts side by side. If depth isn't important and you just want to cut through the aluminium.