[kdoney]

What speed and feed are you running?

[lakeside]

that all depends on what I'm ruuning and what type of tool is cutting so it kind of a wide open queistion that can't be answered without a more detailed question

[pbreed]

Given:

Material, (aluminum, steel, Stainless....)
Cutter diameter
Number of flutes
Cutting horsepower availible....

What is the desired speed and feed?

There should be some kind of formula?

The speed and feed for a 1/4 Hp taig will not be
the same as the speed and feed for a 20Hp HAAS.

I've always done this by tiral and error, but there should be a better way.

[Neil_J]

Given:

Material, (aluminum, steel, Stainless....)
Cutter diameter
Number of flutes
Cutting horsepower availible....

What is the desired speed and feed?

There should be some kind of formula?

The speed and feed for a 1/4 Hp taig will not be
the same as the speed and feed for a 20Hp HAAS.

I've always done this by tiral and error, but there should be a better way.

You can look them up in the Machinery's Handbook (page 1022-1074 in mine). Buy/borrow/steal one now if you don't already own it.

Most all CAM programs will calculate them for you based on cutter dia. / material, etc..

You can also buy a little slide rule paper thing through some suppliers like Enco... Nice to keep in the tool box.

[lakeside]

save the $80 on the machinist handbook and spend $100 on this software it ME PRO well worth it
http://www.mrainey.freeservers.com/

[dertsap]

ask the manufacurer what their recommended surface feet is , literature doesn t necessarly give the proper speeds and feeds for a given cutter , for example you look at a box of sandvik inserts they have a recommended surface feet , sandvik has a new calculation software that breaks it down to insert type , material type , cutter dia , # teeth , depth of cut and tool engagement , then it is broken down to cubic inches per minute removal , turns out the surface feet per minute is up to four times what is on the box , sfm will soon enough be a thing of the past , i was cutting 1018 mild steel at 7800 rpm at a min of 120 in/min ,with a 3/4"' 3 flt at a .1 depth , and that was consevative , funny thing is we presearved a better insert life and , doubled to tripled some production runs
, company i work at now refuses to recognize this , as most companies are ,
tools are better , machines are better

[lakeside]

all feeds and speed give from any sorce are just starting piont you alway have to adjust for the unknow rigdedty part holder ect.

[dertsap]

normally the manfacturer specs are the best , their specs are normaly geared to optimal professional operations , they guy at home really does have to look at his own obvious capaibilities

[lakeside]

even in a professional aplication the info is only a starting piont but a good starting piont I've been machining for over 25 years and can tell that one fadal will run at one speed and another fadal will run at a difernced speed due to many fact like spindle bearing wear ect.

[dertsap]

like i said earlier on the speeds i was running at were conservative compared to what they recommend , i saw a lot of seasoned machinists drop their jaw to the floor to see those machines run like that , my point was old school is OLD school , of course you take every case for itself , this is what makes a professional a professional

[lakeside]

a true professional make Quality not speed if you machine can handle the feed that great but I've see machine that are 5 years old that are junk and no I'm not from the old school but have a lot of skill I love to see some of the cnc guys trying to run anything with out a controller I’ve made propellers for aircraft carriers (23 foot dia.) down to micro tools in the end you cut as fast as you can don’t try to say a real professional is measure if he follows the manufacture spec. They are starting point and I would never say that someone from the old school is any less a professional than someone who know how to run a software program a set up a cnc it not rocket science it practice

[kdoney]

All, first of all thanks for reading. I'm not saying that your comments have not been helpful but I know it depends on what you are cutting and the tooling. I was wondering, for a normal chinese mini mill, what feeds do you get using a specified tool, cutting a specified workpiece metal, with or without coolant. I wanted to get a feeling to see if the home-made cnc mill I made with a chinese mini mill head should be able to cut faster than I have been pushing it. I seem to be able to cut about .005 per pass on 6061 at 10 ipm with a 45 degree carbide bit 2 flute high helix, no coolant, without much complaint but I want to push it past the normal expected from a standard mini mill. In other words, if someone is cutting .010 at 20ipm on a standard chinese mini mill with the 4/5 hp motor I would go that way and push it until I either broke it or exceeded the standard. I don't want to keep on pushing beyond a reasonable expectation. But I don't know what a reasonable expectation is.

[dertsap]

lakeside

a professional understands the capability of his machines to make quality parts ,
never has it been suggested anyone wasnt a professional,you posted earlier to buy a 100 dollar piece of software and i told him to go to the manufacturer which is free , my point was there is a new way of calculation for anyone who wants to run at an optimal pace while saving tool life , and assuring quality ( depending on the individual )
, but as with all things there are a lot of guys that have 25yrs or more experience that know it all and are absolutely close minded and offensive to anyone with a new idea


TECHNOLOGY GOTTA LOVE IT

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

kdoney spend the money and buy the a copy of "Machinery's Handbook" Yes that is the way it's spelled. My copy is right in front of me. Anybody doing machining should have a copy wether by hand, manual or "CNC" machines.

[lakeside]

I've never seen a machinist that was closed minded and the software for $100 is cheap if it save you on broken or burnt up tool just the time to do the math alone did you even look at the software unless you like to do the math why would you say that it's not worth $100 not all software do feeds and speeds and if you run many kinds of material your forever looking up info are you sure your mind is open

[dertsap]

kdoney
it all depends on your rigidity on your machine , if you have any slop i would suggest conv milling , spindle speed you should be able to push to the max , try taking .002/ tooth chip load cut at half the dia of the tool deep (unless its huge) , and find a comfortable engagement , being homemade there is no way for us to tell how rigid it is , aluminum likes high speeds with lube but only you can judge it , don t be scared to push it a bit , if a cutter breaks OH WELL learning curve

[lakeside]

if I was to buy a book it would be the machining data hand book I have the machinist handbook (on cd) and maybe need it twice a year for some strange thing and this thing about what you consider a true professional or what I say is one really its just an opinion and we all have them

[dertsap]

i agrre withh lakeside about the handbook ,you probably dont need something so indepth , it is a great book but if you only plan to play a bit at home you"" ll be better of with something more general

[dertsap]

http://www.emastercam.com/tools/utils/feedspeed/

use this freeware itll give you some help

[dertsap]

try this skroll down to this FEEDSPD2.ZIP freeware from smartcam

http://microsystemsgeorgia.com/tocht...ublicfiles.htm