Escott, thank you very much for not belittling me, and being so helpful. If more people treated newbies like you, we'd be a lot better off!
I am a college grad, and my alma matter has an amazing engineering library open to public use, with more books than I could throw a stick at. I don't think anyone except current engineering students can check anything out, however. Still, I could spend a day every once in a while to read tomes on materials cutting to accquaint me.
I actually started as an engineering student, but became a linguist. Organic chemistry destroyed me, but I was amazing at calculus. In any case, I know that everything I've been reading today shows me I can understand this stuff at a deeper level, and I want to try. I also know that I will probably try starting without the knowledge anyway, because books are only so helpful. And I want to make things BADLY. I learn best by doing, anyway, so I'll probably pick some bit I think will work, and go at it.
Can you recommend any specific one book that best accquaints someone with cutting tool choice/metal removal methods? If there is a beginner's book for machinists or something, that still remains current with the advent of carbide & PCD tooling, I'd like to find and read it.
In the meantime, what bit specifically would you recommend for titanium, especially considering its nasty work hardening habit? I'm talking standard 6Al-4V.  |