Live tooling suggestion!

Hey

We currently have a job in our shop that is high volume and requires us to mill flats using a Nakamura Tome WT150. We are trying to find the best radial live tooling heads for the job. We have tried a few brands with varying results but as we know these things aren't cheap! Does anyone have any suggestions on where i should look next? The parameters of the cut are as follows:

Milling a flat in 1018 round steel
38mm length of cut
.6mm step over
5/8" 7flute Em
3800rpm
2000mm/min feed rate.
Using polar interpolation

Thanks!!!!!

Just a couple of questions....
Is stepover of 0.6mm correct ???

... what axes does your machine have ?
... on what diameter is the flats ?
... size across flats ?
A little sketch would help.

Have you used a smaller carbide tipped facemill (say 40mm dia 4 flute @VC125=S1000 F0.35/tooth=F1400.) ?

If the depth is not too far from radius to flat, you might get by with 1 pass per facet using Y axis, or possibly along the Z axis (with a little clean up on the end of cut)

Attachment 504008

Hey

I have to mill it on both main and sub spindles. I have Y axis on the upper turret but not the lower. I have attached a little sketch. Bar dia is 46.5mm and across the flats is 29.0mm. We were taking a 1mm on each stepover but the endmills would sometimes pull out and the load monitor on the machine was around 120%. Currently we are at 80 to 100% load.

Hy, if it is the single shaft type, i can assist you to craft one.

Design, process, bearings. Tough, rigid, you name it / kindly :)

The Radial Live Tools are definitely not cheap!

I have found that the Live Tools for these machines do not give a lot of torque and it sounds like your HP consumption is too large for the standard off the shelf live tools causing your Radial Live Tools to burn up fast. The combination of the Diameter of the Tool (5/8") x Long LOC (38mm) along with 7 Flutes is too much surface contact of the tool on the part at once. Most BMT55 Radial Live Tools give around 50 Nm of Torque and there are some that go up to 63 Nm of Torque and you are most likely consuming all of it at once.

The easy option to lower the torque would be to go with a smaller Diameter End Mill (1/2") or a lower flute count (5 Flute) to reduce the tool pressure and be easier on the bearings in your Radial Live Tool. Also, an End Mill with Chipbreakers will also help to reduce the tool pressure and be a great option!

If you would like me to send recommendations on End Mills that would work well or Radial Live Tools with the Higher Torque (63 Nm instead of 50 Nm) let me know!

If DeadlyKitten can design a Radial Live Tool with higher torque then that would be an amazing option too! It sounds like cycle time matters so that would be a great option to explore!

Hopefully this helps!

Mike

Quote:

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If DeadlyKitten can design a Radial Live Tool with higher torque

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you may improve an allready existing one, by changing it's bearings type, and maybe a few more modifications, like a custom shaft for better chucking with low overhang ( only for that tool ), etc, so to improve overall rigidity

as for torque, then 1:2 gearing ratio or something is needed, and that involves a bit more

overall, is possible to diy / kindly :)