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Roland’s MDX Series mills can be used right out of the box for engraving, routing, drilling, and milling operations.
We commonly see educators teach students a variety of routing applications, such as wooden plaques, simple signs, and even custom gift boxes.
In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you how to use the Roland MDX-50 for routing.
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- Mount a sacrificial piece of material to the center of the milling bed. This piece should be the same density of your cutting stock.
- Secure the routing stock to the sacrificial material.
- Note that you will be cutting through the tape so use a thin double sided tape like banner hem tape (3M XQ series).
- Also, take a caliper measurement of the routing stock thickness as you will use this to set the tool depth later.
- Load the machine with a 1/8” square end mill.
- Set the XYZ Origin.
- For this project, we are using Roland’s easy-to-use software Engrave to load a file, set the conditions, and perform the routing. Select File → Cutting Setup then edit the artboard to represent the routing stock dimensions. Import or create your paths into the program and position them on the artboard accordingly.
- Select File → Print, choose the intended mill from the pick field and select “Properties”. Then select the Tool Tab and choose a material profile that corresponds with the routing stock.
- Change the “Z Down Position” to the stock thickness plus 1-3mm to make sure the tool completely cuts through the routing stock.
- Click “Okay” and send the job to the mill.
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Once complete, you should have a path cut through the entire depth of the routing stock. The double-sided tape will have kept the desired piece secured throughout the process and can easily be removed for finishing.
Read a set of full in-depth tutorial instructions + tips for this project here.
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