Can you carve on a ceramic tile with a cnc?
I am posting mostly just to see other responses, but yes you can.
I don’t go very deep, and I smother the tile with lube. I get some funny looks from people when they see a tube of Trojan’s water-based gel in my shop (yes, straight up sex lube), but it is very effective and stays (mostly) on the workpiece because of the gel quality. It is much better than using water.
The problem with carving ceramic tile is that you are going to carve off the protective surface coating, and the inside of that tile can become very porous and absorb moisture, or allow it to pass through to the substrate. Depending on where you want to install tiles, you need to be aware of this exposure, because it is significant. If you live in an area that has high humidity or you are going to use the tile in a ‘wet’ location, you need to reseal the finished work with an epoxy, or some sort of coating to protect it.
Ceramic is like glass, so you need to be careful. I do very shallow passes (like 0.2mm) and slow feed rate. The feed rate is going to be dependent upon your machine, the type of bit, and the tile. Contrary to the norm of wood or many other materials, you do NOT want to be creating chips. You actually DO want to be creating dust (but won’t because of the lube), and you should see the size of the particles in the gel of the lube.
It can be difficult. Too deep and too fast, the tile will break. Slower is better, and patience is a virtue. I add more lube if I see dust, and sometimes run a fan over the piece to keep it cool.
Thank You for the very usefull information. I’m going to give it a try. I have the FA 3S machine. Any experience on which bit to use?