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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    469

    Cutting big chamfers..?

    One of the parts I'm working on needs a big (0.150" diagonal) 45deg chamfer around a contour. I looked around my tool tray (just kidding, they're all over the place) and thought a 1/2" spot drill might work. It's what I normally use for chamfering, but I had never done a chamfer that wasn't just breaking the edge.

    Anyway - it SORT of worked, but not well. I think I missed the ideal feedrate by A LOT, the tool rubbed and made a horrible mess. I'm sure I can improve it by doubling the feedrate (I was at 2500 and 15ipm..) but it still feels like it isn't the ideal tool, at all. A ball end mill and some creative programming might work better, but what's the simple solution I'm missing here? I'm sure there's an easy way of doing this that I'm forgetting about.

    Any thoughts?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    41
    Look for what's called a chamfer mill, or a drill mill will work if you get one that's big enough.

    Dave

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    469
    Thanks! I just went back and figured out the differences. I had sort of glanced over chamfer mills and assumed they were just a different name for a spot drill. (chair)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    525
    Quote Originally Posted by TiagoSantos View Post
    Thanks! I just went back and figured out the differences. I had sort of glanced over chamfer mills and assumed they were just a different name for a spot drill. (chair)
    Spot drills work great for small chamfers where such a tiny chip is produced that there is no worry about actually evacuating it, but a dedicated chamferring tool is generally a good idea as you go bigger. Multi-flute countersinks generally do the job well in most materials. I usually use the drill/mill style tools in aluminum though.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    469
    That's a good point, I have a 4 flute 5/8" countersink I might try. It is 82deg, but for this particular chamfer, that won't matter.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    525
    Quote Originally Posted by TiagoSantos View Post
    That's a good point, I have a 4 flute 5/8" countersink I might try. It is 82deg, but for this particular chamfer, that won't matter.
    Its pretty important to attempt to cut on the upper/outer most portion that the part allows (sometimes islands or floors will be in the way) and set your chipload accordingly. The flute design of most any chamfer is such that its clearance diminishes rapidly toward the tip of the cutter.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    469
    Makes sense, but I'm not sure I would have thought of it on my own Thankfully for this particular part, there is lots of clearance so I should be able to run it right at the edge of the cutter.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    469
    Man do I feel stupid right now

    Had to drill a hole today and since I was in my cam package to grab the coordinates, I decided to post the code directly. Not something I'd normally do for a single hole, but.. Anyway, get to the machine, run it and the spot drill goes right into the collet, barely making a dimple. What the...?

    Took me a while to figure out the new mach3 post I was using was writing out m4 instead of m3 as the default spindle command..!

    I went back to check the code I had for that chamfer a few days ago, and sure enough, it was running the spindle backwards! It was kind of a miracle it even worked half as good as it did. I ran it again with the spindle in the right rotation and it worked great..

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