ultem machining

I machined some dies for Eric last week. The dies were to be cut from Ultem and the material was quite expensive in the thickness that was required for the dies. Ultem resins are used in medical and chemical instrumentation due to their heat resistance, solvent resistance and flame resistance. Ultem 1000 (standard, unfilled polyetherimide) has a high dielectric strength, natural flame resistance, and extremely low smoke generation. Ultem has high mechanical properties and performs in continuous use to 340°F (170°C). It's a beautiful material to machine and I think the machined parts are gorgeous in final appearance due to its translucency.  I decided to cut a test piece in foam to test my milling operations since the material was so expensive. I learned a great deal from this milling job as it required some different techniques to create the dies and I was conscious of being efficient with my machining time. Isolating geometry that was to be milled in 3D was key to doing this job as well. I feel like I made some large strides in understanding RhinoCAM and it's capabilities more in depth. The same could be said of the Tormach. I feel like I could machine much larger pieces than it's milling envelop allows just by using some careful planning in fixturing. Good to learn new things ...