Problem- slotting tungten/any advise?

[iamachine1976]

hello all. this is my first post on this here web page. i hope im in the right spot? im going to be slotting tungsten round bar 3/4 dia. in one end of the bar. .625 deep x .281 wide. im going to use an ab tools carbide tipped woodruff. 2 1/2 dia., .281 wide, 3/4 shank. im going to start around 100-150 sfm. and about .0003 - .0004 per tooth. any advise would be much appreciated. like if im crazy,feed and speed, or depth of cut ect. im a feature cam user. and i run a haas vf-6. anything you can think of related would be welcome.

[iamachine1976]

advice that is. sorry

[Nastyzen]

I would grind it.Tungsten is darn hard and brittle.
Let us know how it went

[iamachine1976]

im being asked to try and do this in house this time. we're paying quite a bit to have these things done outside. ill let u know how it goes. or if it doesn't go. thanks for the response. if u were me? how deep per pass would u try?

[Nastyzen]

Sorry never tried machining the stuff.The biggest tungsten I've seen was 3/16 in dia. and all I did was grind the points sharp.But I guess I would first test real slow and shallow with lots of coolant.I assume it will want to glance off the surface,be prepared to sacrifice that blade.Clamp the part as close to the machining area as possible to avoid any chatter or the tungsten will shatter.
Other methods worth opting for would be wire edm or water jet cutting it.

Good luck

[iamachine1976]

THANKS. ive done molybdenum this way. but its not as tough. its very abusive to tooling but as scary as tungsten. ill find out pretty soon here if i do any good. check back in a week or two and ill let u know how it went. and if theres anyone else out there id love to hear what u got for me.

[Fegenbush]

How many of these do you have to do? If it is only a couple, you could use a Dremel type wheel of proper dimensions instead of a woodruf cutter, but in a similar fashion. To echo the people above, go slow, very slow.

[iamachine1976]

i have 12 to do. at my starting point. looks like it will be about a 20 min cycle time. that is if it works as well as i hope. 125 sfm .0004 or something. you are talking about some kind of an abrasive wheel i guess? 4 of them have a 1/8 hole thru the slot at 90 deg.

[iamachine1976]

hey all. it went pretty well really. 100 sfm. .00021 per tooth. .157 step over. used two saws for 12 parts. it was fun... i guess.