Cigar Molds Thread

[keithjjones]

Can you cut poplar faster? The geometry can be buttressed with plywood for dimensional stability. ??

Is it a soft wood? For soft wood the charts I read say you can take a .004-.006" bite per flute. Hard woods are .003-.005". I try to go on the middle of those ranges so they are a little faster, but won't get too close to breaking the bit. This is only my third cut ever, so I'm learning as I go on what works and what doesn't, starting conservative and moving my way to less conservative. I've already had to toss one piece of stock because the bit came out mid carve. So I'm going to try to stick with cheaper, but still usable, stock until my process is repeatable. I have enough Douglas fir to make at least 15-ish molds. If I make less than 10 stick molds then I can make more molds, and each will go faster. I hardly ever roll more than 4 sticks at a time. Changing the number of sticks takes a bit of cad time.

I can get 1x10 oak (actual size about .75x9.25) for $7/ft pretty easily in my area. The lumber places that might have 2" thick boards aren't open when I'm not working or doing school stuff. I need to be able to have the stuff at my doorstep (ie Amazon-like) or store open when I'm free for me to be able to do it. So I'm debating about trying to glue two boards together with wood glue, for thickness, and trying to carve that. But you are already in the $30+ range for materials with that option, with a slower carve time, plus longer prep time. It might work for my needs, but I doubt it would still be cost effective enough for others. I've seen on these threads that $30 is the sweet spot and $50 starts to be too much.

Looks like 1x10 poplar boards are $5/ft which is better. I've never worked with it. I've worked with oak before making aquarium cabinets. Have you worked with poplar? What I've been reading is that it is technically a hard wood, but it is still soft.

I just cad out the Salomon and will carve that after the 44 finishes.

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[keithjjones]

Is it a soft wood? For soft wood the charts I read say you can take a .004-.006" bite per flute. Hard woods are .003-.005". I try to go on the middle of those ranges so they are a little faster, but won't get too close to breaking the bit. This is only my third cut ever, so I'm learning as I go on what works and what doesn't, starting conservative and moving my way to less conservative. I've already had to toss one piece of stock because the bit came out mid carve. So I'm going to try to stick with cheaper, but still usable, stock until my process is repeatable. I have enough Douglas fir to make at least 15-ish molds. If I make less than 10 stick molds then I can make more molds, and each will go faster. I hardly ever roll more than 4 sticks at a time. Changing the number of sticks takes a bit of cad time.

I can get 1x10 oak (actual size about .75x9.25) for $7/ft pretty easily in my area. The lumber places that might have 2" thick boards aren't open when I'm not working or doing school stuff. I need to be able to have the stuff at my doorstep (ie Amazon-like) or store open when I'm free for me to be able to do it. So I'm debating about trying to glue two boards together with wood glue, for thickness, and trying to carve that. But you are already in the $30+ range for materials with that option, with a slower carve time, plus longer prep time. It might work for my needs, but I doubt it would still be cost effective enough for others. I've seen on these threads that $30 is the sweet spot and $50 starts to be too much.

Looks like 1x10 poplar boards are $5/ft which is better. I've never worked with it. I've worked with oak before making aquarium cabinets. Have you worked with poplar? What I've been reading is that it is technically a hard wood, but it is still soft.

I just cad out the Salomon and will carve that after the 44 finishes.

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Whoops I meant to say enough wood for another 6-7 molds. Bad math.

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[webmost]

I can't imagine how grain that far apart in such a soft wood is going to hold up under use. That's where a good chunk of at least maple would save you so much time in the long run. If you can't afford the wood, go haunt the Goodwill or such not thrift shops, find some solid old furniture, & laminate it up.

Just now talked to an FXSS customer from Cleveland who is travelling salesman for CNC equip. He thought your project was da bom.

 

[keithjjones]

I can't imagine how grain that far apart in such a soft wood is going to hold up under use. That's where a good chunk of at least maple would save you so much time in the long run. If you can't afford the wood, go haunt the Goodwill or such not thrift shops, find some solid old furniture, & laminate it up.

Just now talked to an FXSS customer from Cleveland who is travelling salesman for CNC equip. He thought your project was da bom.

The beauty is I can always cut again. Like I said, if someone wants a mold a certain way and pays for stock and/or if I get some time to glue two one inch pieces together, I can try something else. I'm not going to waste a ton of hardwood at this point, especially since I don't beat up my molds. So far, printing is much more economical and faster in my experience.

Thanks for the CNC thumbs up!

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[keithjjones]

Oak and the Salomon mold

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[derektherockstar]

Oak and the Salomon mold

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That's really cool. Let us know how it works out brother


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[TheFlask]

@keithjjones I've been trying to wrap my head around why it's taking so long to make a complete side. Are you making rough and clean up passes? What bit/bits are you using. And what feeds and speeds are you using?



PS
This is why I was asking to start a separate thread

 

[keithjjones]

@keithjjones I've been trying to wrap my head around why it's taking so long to make a complete side. Are you making rough and clean up passes? What bit/bits are you using. And what feeds and speeds are you using?

Yes I'm using 3 passes: a rough clearing, a contour, and a parallel. My feeds take into account a 1/8" bit, 2 flutes, cutting .004" chip load. The first pass is an end mill. The last two passes are a ball mill.

The top requires around .25" of material removal around the parts that snap in. It just takes a while to do that with a 1/8" bit.

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[TheFlask]

Yes I'm using 3 passes: a rough clearing, a contour, and a parallel. My feeds take into account a 1/8" bit, 2 flutes, cutting .004" chip load. The first pass is an end mill. The last two passes are a ball mill.

The top requires around .25" of material removal around the parts that snap in. It just takes a while to do that with a 1/8" bit.

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I don't know. Everything I've seen would do that in an hour or so.

 

[keithjjones]

I don't know. Everything I've seen would do that in an hour or so.

How so? For three passes on a 15"x7"-ish area with a 1/8" bit at 10,000 rpm, 2 flutes, with .004" chip load?

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[TheFlask]

How so? For three passes on a 15"x7"-ish area with a 1/8" bit at 10,000 rpm, 2 flutes, with .004" chip load?

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No. Not saying your math is wrong. I'm saying I've peoples videos of there CNC machines making things and not take that long

 

[keithjjones]

No. Not saying your math is wrong. I'm saying I've peoples videos of there CNC machines making things and not take that long

It could be in how they designed their thing to carve. For the molds there isn't a decent way around taking off a big chunk of wood, unfortunately.

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[Dominican56]

I can't imagine how grain that far apart in such a soft wood is going to hold up under use. That's where a good chunk of at least maple would save you so much time in the long run. If you can't afford the wood, go haunt the Goodwill or such not thrift shops, find some solid old furniture, & laminate it up.

Just now talked to an FXSS customer from Cleveland who is travelling salesman for CNC equip. He thought your project was da bom.

The wood doesn't have to meet industrial specifications. Maple is nice, but probably overkill for home rolling.

 

[Dominican56]

@keithjjones I've been trying to wrap my head around why it's taking so long to make a complete side. Are you making rough and clean up passes? What bit/bits are you using. And what feeds and speeds are you using?



PS
This is why I was asking to start a separate thread

It's a home project with less horsepower than the bigger machines. Less HP means lower speeds&feeds.

 

[TheFlask]

It's a home project with less horsepower than the bigger machines. Less HP means lower speeds&feeds.

That is true but a lot of what I've been watching are home build machines. I've wanted to build one for myself for a while.

 

[derektherockstar]

@webmost it's here!!!! Misted the binder and then I'm trying to fill her up


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[keithjjones]

That is true but a lot of what I've been watching are home build machines. I've wanted to build one for myself for a while.

It depends on the amount of coin you want to sink into your project. Just beware, it's never going to cut as fast as you want it to. And the faster you cut the more inaccurate it will be. You can't buy your way out of that engineering trade-off. Most people I see on YouTube put some serious coin into their machines to get the type of speeds you are looking for. I run nema 23 motors, 4mm lead screws, and a 500w spindle. That's not exactly on the low end.

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[keithjjones]

It depends on the amount of coin you want to sink into your project. Just beware, it's never going to cut as fast as you want it to. And the faster you cut the more inaccurate it will be. You can't buy your way out of that engineering trade-off. Most people I see on YouTube put some serious coin into their machines to get the type of speeds you are looking for. I run nema 23 motors, 4mm lead screws, and a 500w spindle. That's not exactly on the low end.

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The size of the bit you can push also makes a huge difference, but that means larger spindles.

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[keithjjones]

The oak blew my spindle up. Like, it's gone.

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[keithjjones]

The oak blew my spindle up. Like, it's gone.

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A new 500w spindle will be here by the weekend. Thanks Amazon.

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