Originally Posted by Odin  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. |
Machineries handbook. ~80$ and well worth it. Covers pretty much every tooling technology out there, and updates continually. Linsay publicationshttp://www.lindsaybks.com/ has an extensive collection of reprints of older machinist texts, nice stuff there, and very reasonable prices
6-4 is alloy Ti, and is one of the ones which work hardens. I've worked a reasonable amount with that particular alloy, and it isn't that fun. It's not something me or anyone else can say "here, this bit will work" It doesn't work that way, and short of someone running that alloy on the same machine, with similar cut depth, feed rate and spindle speed can give you. Most of the 6-4 I've cut is on a Haas TM1 which is substantially bigger than a TAIG. I used a selection of HSS and carbide to get my work done.
If you are unfamiliar with things like how to calculate feed rate and spindle speeds, and adjust these based on your machine, don't start out cutting 6-4. All it's going to do is upset you, and you'll get frustrated. Start with something softer, like Aluminum or even machinist wax, then work your way up. Nobody starts making the most difficult parts from the most difficult material.
I'll repeat this again, since you seem to have ignored it, if you are trying to cut blanks out of sheet Ti, there are better ways to get the work done, contact job shops in your area to see about abrasive waterjet, plasma, wire edm, or laser cutting. Waterjet, plasma and laser cutting are very fast, waterjet is most likely going to be the least expensive of these. If it was me I would get the blanks cut with one of these methods (a little easier for me since I work at a place with a couple of lasers) and then do finish work with my mill. Choose the correct process, especially if you are trying to make money at this.