Safest High RPM's

[mountie1808]

I was wondering what the safest spindle speed is in order to not damage the router from prolonged high speeds. Everything is based on 18000 rpms, but i was wondering if cutting at a slightly higher speed would produce a cleaner cut. Any thoughts?

Mike

[knight_toolworks]

When cutting tropicals I cut at 18000 it seems to help a bit and keep the thing from getting too noisy. but the spindle will only go as fast as it is rated.

[bleeth]

Michael: Using your chip load calculator for your feed and bit you will find that most of the time speeds of 18k are not necessary. I do most standard panel cutting at the 12-14k range. Running your spindle over 18k will toast the bearings. An expensive deal. Those higher speeds can also result in too small a chip which will overheat your bit and dull it a lot faster. Remember that unlike a router your spindle is constant torque and will always run at the speed you set. If you are going to be running it heavy for production use I reccomend getting an infrared thermometer to monitor the heat.

[mountie1808]

Ah, that's the information I was looking for. I noticed it when I was cutting aluminum. When i first started working here, i was told to use 14,500 at 2" per second. That, however, produced a very unsightly edge. At 18,000, the edge was much cleaner. At 19,000, I start to get lots of splinters. I am also using a mister to keep everything lubed.

I can easily stick to the 18,000 rpm with the mister. Are there any other suggestions?

Mike