[GITRDUN]

Machining some heat resistant stainless castings. Dont know the true properties of the metal other than HARD. This is work that i can probably keep coming back every month if i can get the cost down enough to be competitive on pricing. The parts are large tubes about 6" in diameter with the ends machined into a weld bevel. Right now i am using a carbide inserted 2 flute 3/4" ball mill to contour the bevels to shape. I am running at 690SFM with a chipload of .014". Any faster and the inserts get over heated and degrade to fast. Also running dry as any coolant thermal shocks the inserts immediately.

So my question is just how much more SFM could i expect to get from a solid carbide 4 flute ball mill with Tialn coating? And at $20 per insert for the cutter im using now i can get 2 completed parts before needing to change the insert. At $260 for a solid carbide tialn coated mill i would have to get 20 parts per end mill to end up with the same cost per part for tooling running the same SFM and feedrate. However if i can achieve an increase of x4 in cutting feed i only need to get 4 parts per end mill to significantly increase my profit margin.

Is this pie in the sky or is that a reasonable expectation for switching to tialn carbide? I have never tried tialn coated carbide yet. We usually go for the cheap and slow method but its time to get caught up with the rest of the world in milling speed if we are to stay competitive.

[helaser]

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[flick]

It's conceivable, yes, that you could get twice as many parts at 4x the feed. TiAlN loves heat. You've already got twice as many flutes, so you just doubled your productivity and tool life. If you can double your spindle speed, you can double your productivity again, as long as your tool life doesn't drop, BUT... What kind of stepover are you using? Why not choose a tool that matches the bevel angle and take a bigger stepover?

[GITRDUN]

There are numerous different parts that have a slightly different angle from one part to the next. So using a ball mill is really the only option without a 5 axis machine. I am roughing the contour with an inserted mill at a step down of .25" leaving a few thousandths on Z. Step down of .030" on Z with the ball mill to get a decent enough surface finish to pass QC.

If its possible i may just give it a try. Nothing ventured is nothing gained.

[flick]

Right on! I'm not sure that it will be a slam dunk, but hopefully you'll at least break even on your investment, and you'll definitely learn something.