First Acrylic CNC Cuts on the MPCNC, a DIY CNC Router. November 2022. Three Lessons Learned.



Don’t you love the videos that show someone making it look easy?
This is NOT one of those.
This shows the start of my learning process, and I think the failures and lessons learned can be just as important.
This was cutting cast acrylic, with conservative feeds and speed settings.
1/8″ carbide 2 Fl spiral upcut bit
1/4″ acrylic.

Lessons learned on my very first cut:
1. When you’re working with softer (or more brittle) materials, the tab heights need to be generous or the tabs might not hold the part adequately.

2. The compressor I’m using for air blast chip clearing is on the same circuit as the machine. When the compressor came on the spindle RPM dropped! That didn’t cause a problem here, but is not good.

3. NOTHING works as fast as an emergency stop switch. Not unplugging everything, powering down the spindle, nada. Must have. (and do now)

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