SFM 17-4 Stainless Steel

[Stowe Figler]

Any info on SFM for a carbide slitting saw operation of 17-4 stainless, dry machining? I'm using a 36 tooth, .0225" thick, 3" diameter saw blade, making .031" deep slots into orthodontic pieces. Lining up 20 parts in a fixture to machine a row is about 3 1/2" long. Thanks.

[txcncman]

What did Machinery's Handbook recommend for SFM of carbide on 17-4 stainless?

[Stowe Figler]

I Don't know. Don't have access to the machinery handbook.

[txcncman]

I do not have time to look it up for you. I would guess will be about 85 SFM. But you should verify before continuing.

[BobWarfield]

G-Wizard suggests 229 rpm, 10.52 IPM for that cut.

Cheers,

BW

[Stowe Figler]

Thanks a ton. Good info. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Stowe Figler]

Would you guys climb cut with a slitting saw for these parts? I know its a given with regular end mill machining operations.

[txcncman]

I almost always climb mill for finish cutting. But it also depends on your set up and part geometry too. Will climb mill pull the part out of the work holding or not.

[Stowe Figler]

I don't think my parts will fly out of my machine fixture. It holds them nice and tight. On top of that, I've got a new fixture deisgn coming the next couple weeks that has a few more features which should hold the part even more rigid. I want to give the climb cut approach a try. I hope it can really help out my tool life, and reduce the cutting forces on the leading edges of the saws teeth. I'm curious if it will eliminate some burrs also.

[jkowal]

I climb cut about 99% of the time and would highly recommend it for a slitting saw. 100 SFM (127 RPM) sounds about right for cutting dry and about 3.6 IPM on your feed (.0008"/tooth).

[dfearnow]

I used to climb on slitting, until I was reading a thread on this site. And everyone stating that conventional was the way to go. Im confused

[Stowe Figler]

Hey dfearnow,

Was there a big difference when you switched from climb to conventional? Part quality, tool life, part hold down?