Originally Posted by skmetal7  yeah i never had good luck with steel/stainless on my x2, a few passes @ ~0.010" and the cutter is shot. i haven't tried carbide yet, maybe that will give better results. good thing i haven't needed to cut a lot of steel.
the thing is is that you need slow speed high feed, but the x2 just doesnt have enough hp. |
The problem is rigidity isn't up to the task. If it were, the light cuts could be taken at the proper feed per tooth and the cutters would hold up, but they don't, because they are making little vibrations as the machine flexes, and those vibrations are tiny impacts that in turn accelerate wear on the edges of the cutting tool.
So aluminum works great, because the impact with buttery aluminum isn't sufficient to really cause harm to the tool.
If you cut with conservative tooling on a bridgeport, the cuts are smooth and glassy, and the tools hold up.
Not really a huge fault, as the SYIL machines weigh very little, and just can't be expected to work like a giant piece of American steel.
I've taken some aggressive cuts in aluminum with the syil X3, and it seems to like aluminum and operate in it efficiently.
I'm selling my machines and equipment at the link below if anyone's interested. I'm looking for $8000 OBO http://ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=7&f=132&t=528943