Even with a $3.00 piece of junk 1/8" end mill it came out great! Now to put in the Amana bits and do some real 2.5D carving!
I have some fresh zebrawood and other good stuff to play with soon. $200 for the whole pallet. needs jointer and planer though.
You could always use the router to surface one side at a time if you can hold it down so it doesn't move (would be a lot slower than a planer/thicknesser though). Alex.
Not the bottom end of the hobby range though - the Dewalt should be up to the job. Not familiar with the Delta, but I see it claims to use iron castings - got to be better than a soft aluminium alloy or pressed steel plate. I've still got the combination machine I used in my business before I retired - 12" saw with sliding table, 10" x 6" planer/thicknesser and spindle moulder. If you can get one surface of that timber approximately flat the thicknesser should finish the job. Alex.
Well the LEAD 1010 is a strong machine. It has a few VERY bad newbie mistakes today that it lived thru. Must pass these ones on. Hopefully someone else will not make these ones. 1. one of the Y axis motors did not keep up. The entire gantry twisted by about 4 inches yet when I put it all back it remains square and true. still cutting circles accurately. aluminum is good at flexing and springing back I guess. still don't know what happened. all collars are tight, nut blocks are good, etc. I was doing a homing cycle when the noises started happening - shut down button should have been my first choice. lesson learned. 2. BIG F*** UP! using 2x4x6 for now to do a few signs. Vcarve Pro was all setup for the depth, etc. but the **** BIT was not 1.5 inches long - only about 1.25 inches available. Software does not correct for this. Things get ugly quick. EPO stop button was hit within seconds. collar of the Dewalt 611 hit the wood, loosened the bit and it chewed a huge part off the front of the sign. Burning wood smell. Lots of not good sounds. WOW these Amana Tool bits are expensive but they do not give at all. This ball end cut thru 1.5 inch pine full depth while loose and didn't fail. It got hot as hell, though. 3. Using the auto downloaded Amana speeds and feeds. Maybe later I will. The rates are 180 inches per min with plunge of 90 inches per minute. I slowed things down to 18 and 9 respectively for now. Especially after the bit depth mess up. I can't believe this machine is still carving right now after that one.
Hi and OUCH Sorry to hear your plight but on the bit saga. Get yourself a stack of cheapo Chinese End and Ballend Mills from Fleabay or wherever. I was like you probably (I was going with Whiteside bits until my friends on the forum suggested otherwise) I too was skeptical and worried about their longevity etc..Trust me (although I've never broken a bit yet) I'd rather break a cheapo than a named brand as we all know how expensive that would be. I bought myself a starter set of expensive bits in the begining for £100 sterling £GBP. Five in all, two of which I would use regularly. After being told about alternatives I bought 2 sets of cheap ones. (a set of ten 3mm, 2.5mm, 2mm, 1.5mm & 1mm Two of each size per set) One Ballend set and one ordinary Endmill. Each set costs circa £9 (you probably can get them even cheaper) I am very impressed thus far with these and who cares if I mangle a few...Do the Math... Check the shank lengths to see if they are long enough for your purpose. Good Luck with your future carvings Regards C
