Can a CNC router cut through stainless steel?
Antony G asked:
I need to cut some shapes out of 0.8mm thickness stainless steel using a cnc router and I basically need to know if it is possible. Importantly, the cutting tip size must be no larger than 1.5mm. It would be OK to cut through the stainless steel on more than one pass. I’m just thinking that the cuttting blade would go blunt almost immediately. Would a diamond tipped cutter blade do the trick. If it is possible what would be the best cutter blade to use?
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I need to cut some shapes out of 0.8mm thickness stainless steel using a cnc router and I basically need to know if it is possible. Importantly, the cutting tip size must be no larger than 1.5mm. It would be OK to cut through the stainless steel on more than one pass. I’m just thinking that the cuttting blade would go blunt almost immediately. Would a diamond tipped cutter blade do the trick. If it is possible what would be the best cutter blade to use?
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Not a problem at all. Stainless steel isn’t super hard. Just doesn’t rust.
Stainless is really tough to machine. If you were using a CNC mill, you could get carbide or cobalt end mills to do this, but I don’t think that commonly available router bits will work for this as they are designed for materials that are easier to cut. Diamond bits won’t help too much here. My other concern is the robustness of the machine. I don’t think a router will be rigid enough. An alternative is to find a place with a plasma cutter and have them cut it.
Toughness of your cutter and rigidity of your setup, Speed(rpm) and feed rate (inches per minute) and thickness of the work being cut are are the issues
Tooling: Carbide or Tungsten
Speed: the thinner the material the higher your rpm
Feed: start at about 10 ipm or 1 fpm
Lastly the work will NEED to be held VERY SECURELY, if not it could present a safty issue.
also you did not mention a polot hole for internal or external contouring being on the edge.
but yes I agree that Plasma Cutting would be the best way to cut based on the information given.
Routers tend to work at speeds to high to cut steel. The best way to cut shapes in steel is a cnc guided plasma cutter. it leaves a clean edge and has a very small kerf
Hope this helps
Carbide tooling will cut stainless fine.
The problem will be the shape of the edges,
different for stainless steel than for wood,
or mild steel for that matter.
You’d have to use a very slow feed.
It’s going to depend on the thickness of the stainless steel. If it’s sheet metal then be really careful and make sure its fixed to some kind of backing, If it’s solid billit then I don’t think your going to be able to slow the cutter down enough to enable the cutting tool to work, router cutters have different cutting edges and angles to woodworking tools and you could end up attempting a dangerous job.
All the above advise about tool materials etc still applies.