[honesttjohn]

Ollie,

You've never heard any of us say 3d carving was fast. Also, the smaller and lighter the machine, the longer it takes. There are shortcuts you'll learn along the way. Did you do a rough cut or just the finish cut?

 

[honesttjohn]

Ollie,

Depending on the material, I run up to 180 ipm. Rough cut with a 1/4 in end mill - no problem. Most woods will do down to 1/8 in ball nose with no problems. Also, you can do most finish cuts that normally use a 1/8" bn with a 3/16 bn. A lot, if not very fine detail, can be done with a 1/4" ball nose. Just run the different bits on your toolpath preview and decide what you can live with.

The nice thing is that once you have a decent dustmop and vac system, and know your machine better, you can start a cut and go do something else in the meantime. You don't have to babysit it constantly.