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CNC Tooling Tips

CNC Tooling Tips

Tool Material

  • Solid Carbide: provides best rigidity and a prolonged tool life
  • Carbide Tipped: Incorporates the wear resistance of carbide and the toughness of a high speed steel body
  • High Speed Steel: provides tough body and the sharpest cutting edge

Flute Geometry

  • Straight: offers a neutral cutting action and highest force
  • Upcut: offers the best surface finish and chip evacuation. Can cause material lifting if vacuum or fixturing is not sufficient
  • Downcut: provides a downward force which helps eliminate part lifting. Chip re-welding may occur if there is no space below the part for chip expansion
  • Compression: used for wood and laminated materials, produces a good top and bottom finish on the part. Eliminates fraying and chipping

Number of Flutes

  • Single Flute: Allows for larger chip-loads in softer materials
  • Double Flute: Allows for better part finish in harder materials
  • Multiple Flutes: Allows for faster speeds and an even better part finish in harder materials
  • *Note*: As the number of cutting edges increase, your feed rate should increase to prevent burning and premature tool dulling

Tool Heat

If a feed rate is too low, heat will be generated causing the cutting edge to break down and dull quickly. To check this, run a nest of parts and stop the spindle. When the spindle has stopped rotating, carefully feel the tool’s temperature. It should be at or near room temperature. This can also be done with a temperature gun. It’s a great resource to have near a CNC machine.

Collet & Tool Holder Life Span

Collets have a life span of roughly 3 months (depending on use). Replacing the collets in a timely fashion will ensure your operation runs consistently and prevents tool breakage. When inserting a tool into the collet make sure the flute fadeout does not enter the collet. This will cause run out and potentially lead to tool breakage. To ensure proper clamping, the tool shank should fill most of the collet. Proper torque when tightening the nut is not only an important safety measure but also effects tool life, cut quality and spindle performance.

Tool Holders have a life span of roughly 2 years (depending on use). Replacing the tool holders will ensure your spindle is not receiving addition pressure and prevents tool breakage. Replacing both the tool holder and collet in a timely fashion will also increase cut quality and tool life.

Tooling Maintenance

Storage of all tooling is important. If possible, keep extra tools in original cases and in a tool box. Debris and dust buildup can wear these items or cause runout when loaded into a spindle. Using a protectant/cleaner is a great way to get more out of your tools. Cleaning collets and tool holders between every tool change is key to long term cutting success.

See article specific to this HERE

Tool Breakage

See article specific to this HERE


When orders are placed, they will be double checked to ensure no errors were made and customer follow up will take place during the same day (unless an order is made after hours). If products are available, which most of them are, they will be shipped out the same day. If they are not available, a lead time will be provided. Feel free to reach out for any assistance with our website or anything else regarding CNC routing and knife cutting.

CNC Tooling Shop, a division of Specialty Machinery Inc.

Email: tooling@cnctoolingshop.com

Hours: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (EST)

Phone: (616) 502-7277


Greg Smolka (Author)

CNC Tooling & Application Manager

Here to help with tooling recommendations (bits, knives, collets, tool holders, maintenance kits, torque stations, etc.) and cutting recommendations (feeds/speeds, tips/tricks, # of passes, etc.).

Contact Infogreg@cnctoolingshop.com

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CNC Routing – Steel Composite Material

CNC Routing Steel Composite Material

At CNC Tooling Shop, we are often asked if it’s possible to cut steel composite materials, such as Duraplate or Maxmetal Element, on our CNC Routers. I’ve heard conflicting statements, so I thought I’d do some testing and share the findings. The goal was to not only cut the material but to also find out how the tools fare and find the optimal feeds and speeds to achieve the best quality. A customer sent us some Duraplate and we were off to the races.

Duraplate composite panels were invented by Wabash National in Lafayette, Indiana (1996) for freight trailers, truck bodies and portable storage containers. It consists of two skins (80,000 psi-yield galvanized steel) that sandwich a high density polyethylene core. Coatings on the steel insure longevity and corrosion protection. It doesn’t absorb moisture and beats out the previous method of using plywood or fiberglass reinforced panels that rip and splinter. Since this creation has come about, other applications include military, building, storage, and industrial products.

With an array of research and testing, we found that the Saber Series four flute coated bit from X-Edge Tools worked the best. The bits were created to cut Steel Composite Material. The coating makes them durable and long lasting. No other CNC bit, that we tested, offered anywhere near as well of a finish.

XS2052 (Saber Series) 1/4″ Diameter

Results explained:

Routing the Duraplate at 114-200 IPM / 14,000 RPM with XS2052 (BUY HERE) worked perfectly once we found out that climb cut was the proper direction. Our plunge rate was 70 IPM and we used an alcohol-based misting fluid called Liquid-X (BUY HERE). It left behind a healthy chip size and a clean cut. We started with a 4’ X 4’ square and cut smaller and smaller squares until we only had 6” by 6” left. The bit we used could have cut much more before finally getting dull, so we can assume that the tool life is acceptable when cutting at proper feeds/speeds.

Duraplate Cutting Chips

We also tried cutting at different feeds and speeds, without luck. Cutting faster resulted in the spoil board burning, decreased cut quality, and a loud screeching sound from the tool hitting the material. I would expect the tool to wear out very fast if used faster than recommended as well as being a fire hazard. Cutting slower than recommended didn’t leave as nice of cut quality and could possibly lead to tools breaking and wearing fast.

Cutting Duraplate Too Fast

Quick Details / Recommendations:

  • Material: 6mm steel composite material (Duraplate)
  • CNC Bit: X-Edge Tools # XS2052 (BUY HERE)
  • Feed Rate: 114-200 IPM
  • Plunge Rate: 70 IPM
  • Spindle Speed: 14,000 RPM
  • Number of Passes: 1
  • Misting: Alcohol-based Misting Fluid (BUY HERE)

Stay tuned for many more articles to come related to CNC routing from CNC Tooling Shop. We will also be sharing videos and updates on our (and Specialty Machinery Inc.’s) social media pages. Stay up-to-date by following us on LinkedInFacebook, or YouTube.

If you need any help with cutting specific materials on your CNC machine, please call me at (616) 502-7277. I manage the tooling department, where we distribute CNC tooling for an array for CNC machinists and companies. We are known for but not limited to working with brands such as X-Edge Tools, LMT Onsrud, Techniks, Whiteside, LMT Belin, Amana, Monster Tool Company, and more. Thanks for stopping by.

Greg Smolka (Author)

CNC Tooling & Application Manager

Here to help with tooling recommendations (bits, knives, collets, tool holders, maintenance kits, torque stations, etc.) and cutting recommendations (feeds/speeds, tips/tricks, # of passes, etc.).

Contact Infogreg@cnctoolingshop.com