Phenolic Routing

[scmorgan]

I very have nearly decided on the purchase of a ShopBot to route out parts from 1/4" thick grade X (paper) phenolic sheet. The parts I am cutting are approx. 14" X 3" and all the cutting is full depth. Due to some geometry features, a 1/8" to 3/16" bit dia is the max. The 'Bot will be in the 3rd bay of my suburban garage. Before I make the leap, I would love to hear from others that cut this or very similar material so that I can have a sanity check. Here are some specific questions:

1) Speeds, feeds, and bit types? Will a standard router work (sufficient RPM?) or will I need to go with the Colombo spindle to achieve sufficient speed. Noise issues?

2) Does the dust collection provide decent cleanup? I don't want phenolic dust everywhere.

3) I need to get away with little to no secondary ops for edge cleanup. The edges don't need to be retail perfect, but reasonable. Is this possible.

4) Will I need coolant? How about a vortex tube air cooler (compressor capacity?)?

5) I will be cutting from 18" X 24" sheets so the bench top unit will suffice size wise, but are there other reasons why I might want to go with the next larger model. Operation characteristics, foot print, resale value, etc?

Any other wisdom is welcome!

[scmorgan]

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller...

Would there be a better category to post this under?

[kerrazy]

Find out what is machines closest to ex. Wood, Acrylic aluminum??? then we can take it from there.
another source is www.routingplastics.com (http://www.routingplastics.com) or www.onsrud.com (http://www.onsrud.com)

Good luck,
and let us know how it goes!
Dale

[Brady Watson]

Sean,
Cutting 1/4" phenolic with an 1/8" bit is very difficult in one pass. The problem is you want to move quickly through the material to avoid melting...but slow enough to keep your 1/8" bit from snapping. I would advise cutting blanks 1/16" or so over-sized with a 1/4" or larger bit. Then take that blank and put it on a vacuum jig 'pedestal' and mill the outside contour with your 1/8" bit to get the detail you need. I don't believe that you would need to cool it if you were making the right size chips to carry away the heat.

Dust...shouldn't be making dust with phenolic. You should be making chips that the dust collector will suck up nicely.

I also don't think that you NEED a Colombo....although as an owner of one, I wouldn't use anything else on my rig. The Colombo is VERY quiet (4Xs quieter than a PC)...I am in a residential area as well and bought it for sound issues and to have 5 non-bogging HP at my disposal.

If you are concerned with sound...insulate as much as you can (ceiling, walls etc) and add sound deadening 'peaks' made out of foam that look like this ---> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hope that helps,
-Brady