Milling is a tricky business. There’s lots of variables to tweak; spindle speed (RPM), feed rate, how much depth to remove per pass and more.

As an aide to memory, I made this quick spreadsheet:

CNCworklog (DOCx)

CNCworklog (PDF)

This might seem a little obsessive, but when you’re babysitting heavy machinery for 2 hours, anything that stops you making a mistake and having to start over is a good thing.

I just fill it out as I go and throw it in the folder when it’s finished. (I made a folder for the  mill to hold manual, schematics and a hard copy of the software settings in it)

Months from now I can dig back and check for sure if I used a 2 flute cutter or a 4 flute cutter for that job.