What SFM for Unknown Steel?

[FunkedOut]

I have acquired some scraps of steel in bad shape (rusted).
The price was great; free!
Problem is, I have no idea what kind of steel it is.
What would be a good SFM to start?
I already dulled one end mill as soon as I got past the rust and would love to avoid a repeat.

Thanks.

[Delw]

are you runnning it on a full size machine or one of those little toy ones?
what type of endmills are you using carbide, highspeed steel, cobalt?
what size end mill are you using?
do you have a solid location ie is everything rigid?

with out these its a crap shoot.
I'll say 1000 rpms 5 IPM and go from there.

[dertsap]

read the following link , it will help you get a bit close to determining what your dealing with
THE SPARK TEST OF STEELS | Steel Data Search Engine

[FunkedOut]

are you runnning it on a full size machine or one of those little toy ones?
what type of endmills are you using carbide, highspeed steel, cobalt?
what size end mill are you using?
do you have a solid location ie is everything rigid?

with out these its a crap shoot.
I'll say 1000 rpms 5 IPM and go from there.

thanks for your help.
i have a toy mill, but it's tonka. (SX2)
hss endmills in a variety of sizes.
i'd say florida is pretty solid and rigid. (not really. wooden bench.)
i was asking for sfm, so i could figure out the rpm.

read the following link , it will help you get a bit close to determining what your dealing with
THE SPARK TEST OF STEELS | Steel Data Search Engine

thanks for that link. i had read that and decided i'd better not learn how to do that in a garage with gasoline and gasoline equipment nearby.
actually, i think it would be worthwhile to set this up and go through the lot. i watched the video this time. seems like it would be pretty easy to get close.
i may not need it to figure out SFM, but heat treating is another story...

i threw 80 SFM at it and things went well. right at about 120 SFM the chips turned blue, so I backed off.
i guess i was worried about what would happen if i went too slow.

thanks for the help.

[kelef]

hi'ya FunkedOut, why not start with what you do have and know, steels that worked well at your known speeds/feeds with your tools/mills-try a ping test with a ball pein hammer or similar workshop tool, on a cutoff of known origin, and then on 2 or 3 others that you know their working conditions, repeat on your scrap piece, clean as much rust/flakes/crudd away as pos. and you will see/hear which of the house steels come nearest to your scrap-and for a start try the slowest rpm you feel comfi with, and light cuts to hear how you tool is surviving-I hope this is of some help- kelef

[Delw]

are you runnning it on a full size machine or one of those little toy ones?
what type of endmills are you using carbide, highspeed steel, cobalt?
what size end mill are you using?
do you have a solid location ie is everything rigid?

with out these its a crap shoot.
I'll say 1000 rpms 5 IPM and go from there.

thanks for your help.
i have a toy mill, but it's tonka. (SX2)
hss endmills in a variety of sizes.
i'd say florida is pretty solid and rigid. (not really. wooden bench.)
i was asking for sfm, so i could figure out the rpm.

.

reason I mentioned all the above is cause you didnt, there ae many reasons why A tool dulls, you didnt give any info in your first post or at least any to go by. other than your tool dulls and you got free metal.

SF is really no big deal on alot of milling applications to "test" a tool ie to get it running and not dulling, no one had a clue to what type of endmill your using nor what type of steel, so for ease of use 1000rpm and 5ipm works for getting it going, as 10% increments is only a key touch away on both feeds and speeds.. its also slow enough so you dont rattle the crap out of a tonka toy

Delw