Wood

Download the custom tool library for wood here.

What kind of wood can you mill on the Bantam Tools Desktop PCB Milling Machine?

We’ve never met a type of wood we didn’t like. The type of wood you choose for your project will depend on the results you want to achieve. A few quick cuts through a piece of plywood for a jig is a lot different, machining-wise, than a carefully roughed and finished piece of fine walnut or purpleheart intended as a gift.

The hardness, direction of the grain, and optimal uses for a particular kind of wood should be considered when embarking on a new wood project. Asking for advice from brick-and-mortar exotic wood retailers is a great way to learn about wood; plus, they often have scrap bins with varieties of wood in smaller, inexpensive sizes that are great for experimenting.

What can I make with wood?

Your imagination is the limit! We’ve made building blocks, inlays, enclosures, work-holding jigs, and lots of other things. Wood is exciting in that there are many kinds to choose from, each with its own unique properties, grains, color, and suitable purposes.

Where can I get wood blocks for to mill?

You can find wood scraps from most lumberyards that deal in hard and exotic woods. You can find the right fit for your project and learn a ton about wood. Scraps and samples are also great because they’re usually already cut to a size that will fit in the milling machine.

What's the best way to fixture wood to the bed of my milling machine?

Wood with smoother surfaces can be attached with High-strength double-sided "Nitto" tape. Wood with a slightly rougher grain can be attached to the bed with either Nitto tape or the Precision Fixturing and Toe Clamp Set.

If you’re feeling ambitious, you can remove the spoilboard, drill holes in the material that align with the slots in the T-slot bed (see Dimensions and Diagrams), and then bolt the material to the bed with low-profile M5 bolts. This provides extremely strong fixturing.

What end mill should I use when milling wood?

Wood can work well with all sizes of end mills; however, the size and type of end mill you use will depend on the kind of wood you’re using and the results you’d like for your project. Proper feed and speed settings can get you everything from a smooth, satiny finish on a final product to expertly made quick cuts for a jig or other piece that doesn’t need fine finishing.

What are some example projects?

Tiny Walnut Coffee Pot 

Wood Inlay

Box-Jointed Pencil Cup 

Photo courtesy Andy Wilson

Recommended Feeds and Speeds

To make it easier to use these recommended feeds and speeds, we’ve created a way for you to quickly import into our software all the settings you see listed below. To do this, download the Wood Custom Tool Library, which contains all the recommended feeds and speeds for this material. Then open our software, click File > Tool Library, click the “Import” button, and select this file. Before using these settings, it’s a good idea to read through our Feeds and Speeds Guide.

Download the Wood Custom Tool Library here.

Note: The feeds and speeds below are optimized for the V2 Othermill. If you're using a Bantam Tools Desktop PCB Milling Machine, Othermill Pro, or Kickstarter Othermill, you may need to experiment to find optimal settings.

A word about advanced feeds and speeds for wood: All types of wood will cut differently. Some have tighter grains, some are more dense, some have differing tearout characteristics (when the cutter interacts with the grain of the wood in such a way as to rip the grain up instead of cutting it cleanly). The variables and ranges available for so many types of wood are beyond the scope of this guide. However, we've done tests on birch plywood and on a slightly denser hardwood, African mahogany.

Birch Plywood

These settings for birch plywood are good for fast, rough cuts. Birch plywood is optimal for projects that don’t call for fine detail.

Tool: 1/8" flat end mill
Feed rate: 59 in/min (1500 mm/min)
Plunge rate: 15 in/min (381 mm/min)
Spindle speed: 16,400 RPM
Max pass depth: 0.050" (1.27 mm)

Tool: 1/16" flat end mill
Feed rate: 59 in/min (1500 mm/min)
Plunge rate: 15 in/min (381 mm/min)
Spindle speed: 16,400 RPM
Max pass depth: 0.020" (0.50 mm)

Tool: 1/32" flat end mill
Feed rate: 20 in/min (508 mm/min)
Plunge rate: 15 in/min (381 mm/min)
Spindle speed: 16,400 RPM
Max pass depth: 0.010" (0.25 mm)

Tool: 1/64" flat end mill
Feed rate: 10 in/min (254 mm/min)
Plunge rate: 15 in/min (381 mm/min)
Spindle speed: 16,400 RPM
Max pass depth: 0.006" (0.15 mm)

Tool: Engraving bit
Feed rate: 59 in/min (1500 mm/min)
Plunge rate: 15 in/min (381 mm/min)
Spindle speed: 10,000 RPM
Max Pass Depth: 0.006" (0.15 mm) Keep in mind the engraving tool has a variable width, depending on your “engraving cut depth.” The deeper the cut, the wider the tool. The shallower the cut, the narrower the tool. If you’re using an engraving tool and the generated path isn’t cutting part of your SVG file, try reducing the engraving cut depth.

Mahogany

Tool: 1/8" flat end mill
Feed rate: 20 in/min (508 mm/min)
Plunge rate: 15 in/min (381 mm/min)
Spindle speed: 10,000 RPM
Max pass depth: 0.050" (1.27 mm)

Tool: 1/16" flat end mill
Feed rate: 20 in/min (508 mm/min)
Plunge rate: 15 in/min (381 mm/min)
Spindle speed: 15,000 RPM
Max pass depth: 0.020" (0.50 mm)

Tool: 1/32" flat end mill
Feed rate: 20 in/min (508 mm/min)
Plunge rate: 15 in/min (381 mm/min)
Spindle speed: 15,000 RPM
Max pass depth: 0.010" (0.25 mm)

Tool: 1/64" flat end mill
Feed rate: 10 in/min (254 mm/min)
Plunge rate: 15 in/min (381 mm/min)
Spindle speed: 15,000 RPM
Max pass depth: 0.006" (0.15 mm)

Tool: Engraving bit
Feed rate: 59 in/min (1500 mm/min)
Plunge rate: 15 in/min (381 mm/min)
Spindle speed: 10,000 RPM
Max Pass Depth: 0.006" (0.15 mm) Keep in mind the engraving tool has a variable width, depending on your “engraving cut depth.” The deeper the cut, the wider the tool. The shallower the cut, the narrower the tool. If you’re using an engraving tool and the generated path isn’t cutting part of your SVG file, try reducing the engraving cut depth.