flatlandpilot
02-12-2010, 05:28 PM
I had never used a coolant before,
when the bit became too hot, I adjusted the speed down.
until tonight, tonight I experimented with coolants.
WD40, lamp oil and spiritus all work great.
Do you use a coolant with acrylic ?
Westozy
02-16-2010, 07:38 PM
CRC, WD40 and spray lubricants are fine for assisting cooling on acrylics although it gets a bit messy. If you have a compressor, build a nozzle to aim at the tool with a valve for air control. Compressed air is a good coolant and it also clears the swarf away to be able to see what you're doing better! If the material is sticking to the tool it's time to slow down on feeds and speeds and it also maybe time to replace the tool as blunt tools overheat quickly. Generally I stick to around 8000-10,000RPM and feeds of 250/300mm per minute. I've cut quite a bit of 10mm clear acryilic using 3mm pass depths with a 3mm endmill, these speeds work quite well without cooling aids.
Cheers, Gwyn