[awetmore]

I'm wondering if anyone has a good calculator recommendation for figuring out appropriate feed rates and depth of cut on the Taig.

I've been trying GWizard this morning. For small cuts it gives me reasonable rates, but for large ones (full slotting cuts, so the same width as my cutter) it seems to come up with rates that are far too high. Are there recommended adjustments values for SFM and Chipload to make GWizard be more accurate with this smaller mill? I've told it a maximum HP of 0.1, even though I have a 1/4 HP motor.

It was good to play with the mill and see how nice of a finish and cut I could get with a very high feed rate, deep depth of cut, but a low width of cut. This was while climb milling.

[BobWarfield]

awetmore, you shouldn't have to adjust SFM much for machine size, but you can get a bit more tool life if you set the G-Wizard machine profile to use 80% of recommended SFM.

Chipload will be the one that's messing with you, in all likelihood. Even there, it may be more a matter of knowing what the max depth of cut you can do on your machine is for full slots than trying to dial back the chipload.

The problem with dialing back the feedrate and chipload is eventually you will have so little chipload it causes rubbing and tool life is a lot shorter. Beware chiploads that start to be measured in tenths unless they're pretty darned small cutters and very sharp.

For a full slot, what symptom are you getting? What sized cutter and parameters are you using?

If it is just poor surface finish, depending on that finish, you may want to consider doing multiple passes. This is not uncommon even for larger mills. There's quite a bit of cutter deflection on a full slot. So where possible, and where surface finish matters, take it down the middle, and then climb mill the two sides.

Lastly, the biggest issue a lot of folks have is not keeping the chips cleared. Even if you don't have flood coolant, but an air blast on it and make sure it is blowing the chips up out of the slot. Chip recutting is really hard on tool life as well as on surface finish.

Cheers,

BW

[awetmore]

I was testing with a 3/16" 4 flute carbide cutter. I do have a coolant system blowing directly on the cutter, although that gets difficult when the cutter is deep into a cut. I was testing with full slot cuts with a much higher than I'd normally attempt depth. The bit would jam and the belt would slip.

I'll experiment again with a 2 flute cutter. That is what I normally use.