How to Deck & Engrave 304 Stainless Steel

Machining 304 stainless steel is tricky!

Although we’ve made past videos with good speeds, feeds, and strategies for drilling and adaptive machining, stainless came back to bite me a few months ago. Of all things, it was decking that threw me for a loop. After blowing a bunch of endmills and my lid, the job was done but I wanted to figure out a reliable recipe.

Speeds & feeds, workholding, and tooling are major components of building a recipe but there was another factor that was make or break and it’s SO SIMPLE that you’re going to think, “OF COURSE!”

There are 1000 ways to skin a cat but I’m happy with the results and if you struggle with 304 stainless, hopefully this can help!