# Plywood cutouts using CNC



## wvume11 (Jul 26, 2016)

All,
I am fairly new to CNC routing, and i would like some tips on the best setup for cutting shapes out of birch plywood. I have been using a 1/4" downcut spiral bit with a feed rate of 50-80 inches/minute, which works pretty good, but I still have a ton of sanding left at the end. Can anyone tell me the best setup for this type of work? Monograms, etc...
Thanks, JOHN


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Welcome to the forum John. I've changed the title of the thread slightly to make it more likely one of our CNC members see it.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

welcome to the one stop shopping forum John..


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

Welcome!


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## 4DThinker (Feb 16, 2014)

I use a downcut spiral end mill just for the first pass, then finish with an upcut spiral end mill. That leaves both the top and bottom edges clean. If you are using VCarve Pro or Aspire to generate tool paths then they have an option to do all but the last pass just a little outside your finish profile, then move up to that line to do the last pass. It gets rid of any pass steps and takes advantage of the whole cutting edge of your bit. Bits don't last long when cutting plywood mainly due to the alternating end grain/side grain and glue lines. For best result you need a very sharp/new bit. 

Hope that helps.
4D


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## SteveMI (May 29, 2011)

There are double compression bits to solve your problem. One example is https://www.amazon.com/Whiteside-Router-Bits-UD2102-Compression/dp/B0012K5YDK or Up/Down Cut Spiral Router Bit SC 2+2 1/4CD 1CL 1/4SH 1FL

Essentially an up-cut on the bottom and down-cut on the top. Only thing to check is that the thickness of your material is more than the bottom compression portion.


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## gjackson52 (Jul 4, 2015)

Welcome to the forum !




Gary


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## fixtureman (Jul 5, 2012)

II use a compression bit to cut 3/4 ply wood in 1 pass very little clean up


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## wvume11 (Jul 26, 2016)

4D, thanks for the information. What travel speeds and plunge speeds do you use?

Thanks, wvume11


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