Investigation of machine parameters on the surface quality in routing soft maple

Furniture manufacturers are currently using relatively high quantities of soft maple. Machining defects such as tom or fuzzy grain often occur in soft maple parts at the computer numerical control (CNC) router, resulting in machine-room yield loss. This paper explores the machining quality of soft maple on end grain, flat side grain, and curved side grain. Using a CNC router, machined surface quality was evaluated as a function of feed speed, spindle speed, tool direction, and tool wear. On flat side grain surfaces, climb cutting produced a higher quality surface compared to conventional cutting. Conventional cutting, on the other hand, produced a better quality surface than climb cutting on end grain. The effect of tool wear was not consistent; however, differences were observed when the other cutting parameters were optimum for producing a high quality surface. End grain and curved side grain surfaces exhibited a decreased machining quality with increasing feed per knife. Flat grained surfaces, which generally machine better than cross grain or end grain, showed no difference in quality when climb cut, and little change with conventional cutting.

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