Cutting PVC Help Please

[cedars]

I have a project to cut a bunch of pvc boards on the Shopbot. I really don't have money built into this project to fund the learning curve so, I'm seeking information from anyone who has had a positive experience cutting this stuff.
What bit works best, best rpm's and move speeds. The one quick experience I had resulted in a lot of melted plastic.

I'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
Steve

[Brady Watson]

What kind of PVC?

-B

[jerry_stanek]

I use a .025 Gerber gold single flute bit made to cut soft plastic if my cuts are large. If I need to get in tight spots I use a .125 single flute that I get on E bay buyer is smpart I normally get 32 mm and 17mm cutting length as I do a lot of 25mm pvc cutting. I run the spindle at 10000 and set my speed at 4.5 IPS.

[dana_swift]

Steve-

I think what you will find with cutting many kinds of plastics, is that they can melt and make a mess. The can also be cut very nicely, but you may have to experiment with what works well for what you are doing.

If you are cutting sheet goods, vacuum hold down may be just perfect, so you can use an upspiral bit to clear the chips before they melt into the sides of the kerf. If you cant do vacuum hold down, a straight edge bit may be better to keep the material from lifting. A down spiral is a guaranteed PVC melter tho.

Try a few cuts and dont be afraid of it. You will end up finding high feed rates (6ips or so) that work well for you, once you figure out how aggressive you can make your depth of cut. That all will depend on your bit and material combination. Start shallow, increase depth with each part you make until you see signs of trouble. You will end up with it dialed in.

Good luck-

D

[cedars]

Thanks guys, I will be cutting the PVC board stock you buy at the lumber yards. It's usually used for exterior trim. I will experiment with the information you all have shared. I'll let you know how I mak out.

Thanks again,
Steve

[sam_harbold]

We do a lot of PVC work mostly with Azek and Versatex. For cutting we use a 1/4" spiral up cut cutting @.25" deep per pass @ 3.5 ips and 10,000 rpm. Here are a couple photos of PVC jobs we done a couple of months ago.
http://odysseywood.us/images/0552.jpg
http://odysseywood.us/images/0563.jpg
http://odysseywood.us/images/MG_9469.jpg
http://odysseywood.us/images/MG_9469_b.jpg

Sam

[cedars]

Wow! Beautiful work Sam! I'm feeling much more confident now.