I have made several projects from steel on the xcarve from 22 gauge sheet to .25in plate and bar. And I will tell you this much take your time and be patient and use lots of coolant this will take a while. I have tried out many types of bits feeds and speeds and what is working for me on a 1000mm I will post below.
1 on the dewalt
5ipm (127mmpm)
plunge 1ipm 25.5mmpm)
depth per pass .005in (.127mm)
and this is the bit i have been using for some time now
At the moment I am making a custom keyring per customer specs. one piece is cut with a cheapo china carbide and the other is cut with the imco I will post pics later of the vast difference between the 2 tools. The china tool cut piece is gonna need a lot of filing. And I mean a lot.
types of items made.
keychains
edc multi tools
knife blanks
other odd and end things
On the order of several rpm too fast. But when they are willing to pay $$ for a hour of my time then a steel trinket they shall have. We shall call this method P.F.E.P. (power filing with extreme prejudice) lol. I would choose to march to the beat of a different drummer but I can not find one that will follow me.
I bought this machine to push it past what it was ever meant to do with the intent to build my own. I got this machine mid 2015 and fully expected to put it in the scrap pile in a few short months boy was I wrong. I will share my list of all the replace meant parts I have had to buy.
Arduino nope did not need it was a error of mine and it is fine.
2.Dewalt upgrade but who didn’t move away from the default spindle
Xrail mod then new x rail. could have lived with out the upgrade but very happy I got it
Dewalt brushes we all need them. 3rd set as of now.
bits lots and lots of bits.
Well I guess it was useless to make that list as nothing except the original spindle has failed. And still on the same set of drive belts v wheels and pulleys. You guys have a great job and I will let you know when something finally gives.
Maybe if were a ball screw set up but the belts can not take the load required for proper milling. Currently in the process of gathering materials for a bench top cnc mill.
I am gearing up to do some bigger steel so thanks for your info. did a bit of small parts that worked out ok. And i have done a bunch of aluminum and seem to have that down. aluminum can be tricky if you try and go to fast too…gumming problem etc…steel just needs as you say a LOT of patience. fingers crossed. i’m thinking of a small recirculating tray system for coolant. get a small t-slot table and bolt it all down.