V-carving in engineered flooring

[Chuck Keysor]

Hello Shopbotters. I want to V-carve the attached owl image into a piece of manufactured flooring. This material is .285" thick, is clad in plastic (both sides) and has a core of what looks like mdf. The face I will v-carve is very smooth, and the edges of this material are beautifully machined from the factory, with very detailed/complex interlocking edges. So I am assuming it will machine well.

I am going to use an Amana "In-groove" cutter, using the RCK-360 insert. I looked on the Web to find recommended feed rates. http://www.amanatool.com/feedcharts/fc-vtip.pdf
But in looking at this, I can't really figure anything out. The width of my grooves/depth of cut will be varying from essentially zero to a maximum depth of .147" and the maximum cut width, if my trig is correct, is .079".

How do I use this chart to establish my speeds and feeds? Or is it not possible with the highly variable nature of V-carving?

If it is not possible to use the chart to figure my speed and feed, what would you recommend? I want to be careful, as when I bought this set, I had assumed the replacement bits would be moderately priced. But upon investigation AFTER my purchase :(, I found the replacement inserts are rather pricey. So I don't want to mess up this insert while experimenting.

Thank you, Chuck

[cnc_works]

I tried machining some after I did my floors and found there was enough abrasive material that it even dulled my carbide bits pretty fast. Maybe it was just my particular flooring though.

[steve_g]

My experience was the same as Donn's. The stuff I tried had a pressed board type core and not the veneer core.

Steve

[Chuck Keysor]

THANKS DONN AND STEVE! I never would have thought of such a problem, so I am not going to risk my blade on this engineered flooring!

Now, I will cut this in real wood instead.

a) I have lots of oak, and I love oak, but others have warned in the past that these instert bits break in oak. But is that true even if I am making shallow V-carvings that are, in this case, only about .15" deep (max)?

b) I have no clue as to how to read the speed and feed chart.

Can anyone answer these questions???

And thanks again Donn and Steve!!!!! Chuck