Beginner question on down cutters

[Roto]

Hi folks,

My question is when using a down cutter how do I get the swarf to adhere to the part of the cut I am iscarding.

E.g. if I am cutting on the outside of an A I want the swarf to cling to the centre of the A and to the outside piece I am going to discard.

Then when cutting a letter through a piece and I am throwing away the A How do I get the swarf to cling to the piece I am discarding leaving me with a clean centre A and a clean intercut.

I hope I am making myself clear.

I will attach a screen cap of my router settings.

TIA

 

[letterman7]

While I always use an upcut, your setting tells the tale - change from climb cut to conventional milling and see if that gives you what you're looking for.

 

[Roto]

While I always use an upcut, your setting tells the tale - change from climb cut to conventional milling and see if that gives you what you're looking for.

Thanks for that L7, I am trying to understand the mechanics of what is happening in each of those scenarios. I am going to run some tests this arvo using Climb and Conventional.

 

[bowtievega]

In our shop we cut everything with a climbing setup. Are you trying to ask how to place tabs or bridges on your parts to keep them connected to the sheet during cutting? I see a option for bridges on that page, is that not what you are trying to do? Sorry if i'm not understanding lol.

 

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

Why do you want swarf on anythnig?
Last time we used a downcut cutter, everything cut cleanly with no edge fluff on any parts-inside or outside- and we went through 8 sheets of plywood like that.

 

[James Burke]

I'm going to take a wild guess and mention the word "burr"...those ragged little overhangs at the edge of anything you cut. Is that what you mean?

If so, they can never be eliminated using a milling/router cutter. They can only reduced by taking a light finish cut.

 

[johnnysigns]

How did the conventional milling work? Are you cutting material much thicker than the diameter of your tooling?

 

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

If you'd try the so-called 'expensive' Onsrud cutters, instead of cheap chinese ebay ones, for the same purpose, you might find it is a solution...
A quality tool does make a huge difference! you can hold the two and no see the difference, but use them, and the difference is night and day.

 

[astro8]

He most likely is cutting acm, acp so when you use a downcut and climbmill all the swarf sticks to the scrap and not to the part that you want to keep

 

[Roto]

He most likely is cutting acm, acp so when you use a downcut and climbmill all the swarf sticks to the scrap and not to the part that you want to keep

Thanks astro8, you nailed it down cutter with Climb milling.