Specific Cutting Forces of Isotropic and Orthotropic Engineered Wood Products by Round Shape Machining

The set-up of machining parameters for non-ferric materials such as wood and wood-based materials is not yet defined on a scientific basis. In this paper, a new rapid experimental method to assess the specific cutting coefficients when routing isotropic and orthotropic wood-based materials is presented. The method consists of routing, with different depths of cut, a given material previously machined to a round shape after having it fixed on a dynamometric platform able to measure the cutting forces. The execution of subsequent cuts using different depths of cut allows the calculation of the specific cutting coefficients. With the measurement being done during real routing operations, a method to remove machine vibrations was also developed. The specific cutting coefficients were computed for the whole set of grain orientations for orthotropic materials and as an average for isotropic ones. The aim of this paper is to present and validate the whole method by machining selected materials such as Polytetrafluoroethylene—PTFE (isotropic), Medium Density Fiberboard—MDF (isotropic), beech Laminate Veneer Lumber—LVL (orthotropic) and poplar LVL (orthotropic). The method and the proposed analysis have been shown to work very effectively and could be used for optimization and comparison between materials and processes.