Hardinge mills

[jbo]

Hello

I have two hardinge VMC's and have strange noises that come from the head of the machine.
I was hoping that some one on the group might have a hardinge machine also and might be able shed so light on the subject
Thanks
JBO

[Darc]

We only just bought a VMC 800II, I can't say I've noticed any strange noises from the head, well not yet anyway.

[jbo]

Hi Darc

Does your machine have a siemens control or is it faunuc?
We have solved one of the strange noises, it turned out to be the rotary union for the through spindle coolant.
If you have siemens control we would be only to happy to help if needed.
We have found the control to be a little tricky in some areas.
Thanks for responding to our post

JBO

[Darc]

Sorry JBO we have a Fanuc control, holy crap these machines move FAST.

[jbo]

Were abouts in Melbourne are you DARC?

Were did you get your machine?

We have found the machines to be very solid and are very pleased despite a few teething problems at first.

What rapids does the Faunuc run, we have 30m on X Y Z no time for an error!!! you have to be sure were you are going.

[gus]

30meter/min? slowpoke, shoulda bought a DMG, 70m/min in X, 40 in y and z......

[Darc]

Actually I'm in Western Victoria (Country Bumkin), we bought it from computer numerical control in Melbourne, ours also runs at 30m/min.
Damn Gus 70m/min, I tell you I'd want to be standing in a pile of sawdust before I hit go, helps to soak it up.

[jbo]

We got ours from CNC as well, they have been great to deal with.
70m/min!!! Hold on to your hats thats fast!

JBO

[Scott_bob]

What is the CNC max programable feed rate?
Fast rapid is good, but that is not for machining. Don't misunderstand me, I'd love to have a CNC capable of Rapid Traverse rate of 2,755 inches per minute!
How fast have you cut aluminum?
Steel?

[jbo]

Hi Scott_Bob

We have a programable feed rate of up to 12m/min
We have never run that fast but often machine 6061 T6 aluminium at 3.5m/min.
We use a 16mm 2 flut end mill from YG-1 designed for aluminium we take an 8mm depth of cut with 80% cutter engagment and away she goes.
You can profile in 2d at these speeds with no problem at all in terms of keeping your contour.
If you are moving all 3 axis at once the machine will slow down and retard the feed rate to the maximium that it can read ahead.
Our machines have a 300 block look ahead which for most of our machining is more than fast enough.
Feed rates are very depenandt on the type of work you are doing but some times we are finishing cavitys at upto 2m/min with a ball nose cutter in P20 material.
Our machines have 8000rpm spindales at that controls our achievable feed rate to some degree.
We have found that 2500-3200mm/min in aluminium with a 16mm 2 flute end mill with the above depths of cut to be a reliable formula.
We have gone faster and deeper but have trouble with the cutters pulling out of the collets.
I hope this has helped a little and would love to here back on your machines and expierances

JBO

[gus]

Run out of spindle speed[12k rpm] before feeds become a problem. I think around 300 ipm is as fast as I cut

[jbo]

Hi Gus

what control do you run on your DMG?