Hi all,

Just wanted to see if anyone could offer some insight on a niggling problem i am having. Basically, I see youtube videos constantly showing endmills doing AMAZING things. 4 or 5x diameter length end mills slotting using the full cutting edge of the tool seemingly effortlessly. Will post a link below to a video from the exact tools i run at our shop. Seeing this gets me excited because it shows me the potential of what a tool we actually own can do and the potential to cut production times significantly.

So eventually, a job pops up which i can use these end mills on (s stright slot in a block of steel) I calculate my speeds and feeds according do the data given by the toolmaker. I stay safe and keep all my feeds and speeds on the lower end of the spectrum (to give me room to build up if everything works well) and I also stay safe and start my cut depth at 1x diamter of the tool. 12mm deep, 12mm diameter tool. I bring my tool in and the second the tool touches the steel i get insane vibration. So, I keep lowering and lowering my cut depth until in the end i could only take a 2mm cut without vibration.

My Machine/Setups are: Hartford CNC Mill, BT40 Collet Tool Holder, 12mm END Mill, Solid Piece of free cutting steel held in middle of vice with no overhang.

My question is - Obviously my toolholders are not the most rigid possible and i understand these videos i watch on the internet are setup best case scenarios but should i expect to be able to replicate what i see in these videos? To see a video of my exact tool cutting a full length slot and only be able to use that tool at a fraction of the depth is disheartening to say the least.

OR - Do you guys think with the above mentioned setup i SHOULD be able to use the tool as i see in videos and maybe there's other underlying issues?

Just really trying to pick your brains a bit on this. This is not about trying to be the hero ripping off all this material this is about trying to improve efficiency.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_iOGGC70mQ&t=63s

Cheers in advance.