High speed surfacing.

[themuffinman]

I am working on a final part for school. My last day to machine is Friday...

I am currently working on a part that requires surfacing top and bottom, then Wire EDM in 7 stages. (inside pockets, and then the outside contour)

here is a pic in solidworks.

My problem is-

I was running 7500rpm and 400 IPM and I had to stop it after 3 hours of running.

Both Rough and Finish are Radial from center...
Rough had a 1* stepover.
the finish has a 0.025* stepover.

Is there a FASTER path I can take?

Machine is a VF2 Haas. 7500rpm max. 1000IPM. High speed is programmed into the panel as well.

Looking for suggestions on a different HSS-F style.

[Delw]

How big is that part? 3 hours is a long time. especially at 400IPM and with the amount of step over you have.
My guess is you dont have a g8 turned on so its pausing at intersections.
you need to specify that in the program, not the control.

I dont think a haas can read enough lines(poly lines) at 400IPM it will automaticlly slow up. I know my Fadal doesnt like to read a bunch of line over 150 IPM and I have the options turned on.
with many line segments ( poly lines being spaced too close) you will loose valuable time. maybe run them at .1 or even .2
your rougher shouldnt take more than 20 mins unless the part is huge. and to be honest you dont need a rougher in most cases unless your taking heavy cuts

there are also other parameters that can be turned on to speed things up.
what size cutter you using, 400ipm is fast almost seems to fast unless your running a .750 dia cutter, with your step over your finish has got to be lousy.

if its programmed off of mastercam you can adjust your line segments( forgot whats its called offhand).

Delw

[themuffinman]

Ya, the Haas was reading the lines just as fast as it could make the moves. No pauses in the program between points, like I said, the Machine has the software turned on.

I was using a 1/4 Carbide Ball. My step over was RADIAL at .025degrees.

My finish was beautiful.

[Delw]

Oh .25º I see that now.
if your finish is good and the machine is not pausing at line segments or direction change then there is nothing you can do. it is what it is,

the only thing I can suggest is that you dont do a Radial step over and do from one end to another to save time. However a radil step over will give you a nice effect

[5axisguy]

I personally don't use a radial stepover very often for several reasons, in this case the center will end up with a tiny stepover and the outside a large stepover, I would cut the flats with a flat or bullnose tool and the steep walls with a constant z toolpath of some sort with the same bullnose tool, you will get a much more consistant finish and stock removal, and allot less acceleration and deceleration which is what kills your cycle time.