Many CAM programs that offer 5-axis milling strategies can make ball end milling toolpaths that hold the ball end cutter at an angle to the surface, i.e. not perpendicular.<br><br>This is because the very end of a ball end cutter doesn't really cut (!), it just spins, because the cutting edge reduces as you move from the sides to the end.<br><br>The result is that cutting wavey surfaces takes an age - between the need to go slowly because the end of the ball end cutter doesn't really cut and the need to do finish paths at several different angles to minimize peaks and ridges.<br><br>But it's clear that even with a 3-axis machine, if we could present a ball end cutter at e.g. 15 degrees off vertical, then we could cut much more quickly.<br><br>I've attached a photo of the spindle with a triangle showing what I'm thinking off - simply an attachment plate between the ShopBot and the spindle so that the spindle is held at an angle.<br><br>I'm convinced that doing this and combining it with using a relatively large ball end cutter would allow for signicant time saving if planning to cut large wavey surfaces, perhaps like the final photo, which is not my work, but the type of thing I believe could be done on the ShopBot.<br><br>Has anyone installed a spindle at an angle, like I'm suggesting?<br>If so I'd like to hear about the degree of improvement in cutting speeds with ball end cutters.<img src="http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=33609&stc=1" attachmentid="33609" alt="" id="vbattach_33609" class="previewthumb"><img src="http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=33610&stc=1" attachmentid="33610" alt="" id="vbattach_33610" class="previewthumb"><img src="http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=33611&stc=1" attachmentid="33611" alt="" id="vbattach_33611" class="previewthumb"><img src="http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=33612&stc=1" attachmentid="33612" alt="" id="vbattach_33612" class="previewthumb">