[upnorth]

So far I have been cutting almost entirely aluminum. As you all know you can make some big programming errors with no real problems in aluminum. I have done some cutting in steel and it has never really gone smoothly. Biggest problem is with chipping of the end mills. Really short life.

So here is the question. Can you guys post what parameters you are using to cut steel. I want to start at a point I know works on other Torus pros. I would like to know your 1) Depth of cut 2) Width of cut 3) RPM 4) end mill stick out from holder 5) End mill details ( Number of flutes, diameter, carbide or HSS) Coolant or not.

Are you using any of the online cut calculators to figure out where to start? If so are you derating the numbers or using what it says? If you found a feed and speed calculator that gives good data from the start which one are you using?

My first cutting will be with cold rolled steel.

Thanks for any replies.

[AUSTINMACHINING]

HSM advisor has been great for me. When I had my Torus Pro (I have a brother now),
I did some steel but can't remember specifics now. You can define your spindle Horsepowet/tourqe curve in hsmadvisor, and it has been spot on so far on both machines. The Torus worked fine on the little steel I did as I recall. I really struggled with stainless steel on anything of size.

With harder materials, machine rigidity is huge on tool life. Carbide doesn't like vibration,chatter and will break down quickly. Cobalt is much more forgiving, just at lower feed/speed than carbide. With a lightweight machine, Start at 5% of tool diameter radial and 100% axial on depth and use chip thinning. Use recommended SFM for tool and part material as a starting point. If you get squealing/chatter, increase feed rate (within hp limits) to stop chatter. Keep tool projection as short as possible. I would switch to a solid r8 tool holder instead of TTS on the torus when getting aggressive, which stiffened up the tool holding and had a noticeable effect controlling chatter.

The most cost effective carbide tools Ive found is yg-1 at suncoast tool. I've been using their titanox 5 flute in 303 and 304Ss
On the brother that has worked great. If using carbide, get radius edge end mills. They have a stronger edge and are less likely to chip of the edges.

[kvom]

G-Wizard for me. Most of my machining lately has been cast iron. I use only carbide end mills and cobalt drills.

[upnorth]

Thanks for the replies. I had tried using a feeds and speeds calculator in the past and it did not go well. When the cutter was engaged it would make a ringing (chatter) sound. Changing rpm doc only changed the pitch of the ringing sound it did not eliminate it. I will retry the feed calculator. I played with one recently and the numbers were quite different from what I got in the past. I will also choke up on the endmill as much as I can. I'll give the tts system one more try and if it does not work I will switch to an R8 collet. I do have YG-1 4 flute cutters but will look into the 5 flute ones. I did find where HSM advisor is available for free online. I'll give it a go and if it works out I will license it.

I'm not sure when I will get to testing but soon I hope. The lockdowns have eliminated my job so I am playing beat the clock with the cold weather. Got to get the shop walled in and ready for the cold weather that will be coming soon.

Thanks for the replies.