Speeds And Feeds

[John H]

I know this is a basicly an east answer,But I seem to be having some trouble and I need some help.I am maching Aluminum(6061),Pocketing useing a 3/4 dia. rough endmill,Doc is .325,This is a coated endmill and is for aluminum.What is the proper feeds and speeds(RPM)for this.And for a finisher.


Thank You in Advance,

John

[little bubba]

Originally Posted by John H What is the proper feeds and speeds(RPM)

Give a man a beer and he gets a slight reprieve from his old lady nagging. Teach him how to make beer(or show him how to get to the package store), and he can tune her out for the rest of his life.

Research, research, research. Many many sources, Machinery's handbook for one, there are some free online calculators, one made by someone who visits these forums reguarly, and these forums.

One more bit of advice, and then I'll take a stab at the actual question. You are asking for speed in RPM, don't do that, and don't think that way, think in terms of Surface Feet per Minute (or the metric equivilant). RPM is just a function of SFM (the thing that really matters) and cutter diameter or workpiece diameter on a lathe(these change a lot).

You didn't specify on how you wanted to be given feed, but please don't think in IPM, think chip load, then based on your RPMs (which you calculated with SFM) you can easily get you inches per minute.

Sorry for the rant, its just a pet peeve seeing RPMs and IPMs, because then I have to grab a calculator to figure out what is actually going on. I've finally got all my people talking in SFM and chip load, which is nice, because now we are all on the same page.

Now, you didn't say how many flutes, or what material the cutter is, or what the coating is (not all that important anyways), manual or CNC, and coolant.

So, with a HSS or Cobalt endmill, I would start about 600sfm((3.8/.75)*600 = 3040 rpms, and feed about .003 per tooth as a low starting point.

For carbide, start at about 1600sfm if you have the coolant for it(8000+ rpms) and work your way up. I'd start feeding with a 3 fluter, at about .01 per rev or (8000*.01) 80 ipm. You could probably get up to 12,000 rpms pretty easy and feeding .010 .015 .020 per tooth, or up to 700ipm if all conditions are favorable, but they are usually not.

[The White Fox]

I have a 20hp Haas vmc
I'm a big fan of "Silver Bullet" end mills for Alumn.
.750 Silver bullet at .325 deep - I'd run F200. S6750 and most likly become more aggressive. For fininshing anywhere from F23 - F113 at 7500RPM. This is for both endmills dia .75 and 3-Flutes

[KLUCAS4]

1000 SFM Minimum Using Carbide on Alum. 3 Flute endmills work better for me for roughing than a Conventional rough endmills. Feed depends on depth of cut and what Horsepower your machine has and also if it has look ahead.

[sportbikeryder]

Originally Posted by The White Fox I have a 20hp Haas vmc I'm a big fan of "Silver Bullet" end mills for Alumn. .750 Silver bullet at .325 deep - I'd run F200. S6750 and most likly become more aggressive. For fininshing anywhere from F23 - F113 at 7500RPM. This is for both endmills dia .75 and 3-Flutes

Is that with a 50T spindle? Any more info on "Silver Bullet" end mills?
What spindle load are you at with those speeds and feeds? Are those slot cutting parameters?

I am only able to get about 28-30 in^3/min mmr on our VF5.

[The White Fox]

sportbikeryder -

I appologise but I don't follow you "28-30in^/min mmr" but I am going with the 28-30 as Feed of 28.0 to 30.0 inchs per minute. Off the top of my head I know for certain I can go about F50 @ s5750 doc .75 full dia. I do that with a G13 in a customers part for a 4.00 thru hole. - and no, I run a 40T - and the spindle load spikes to something like 160% (just into the spindle load red zone) and settles back down to something like 120% - 130%. I only use this tool (when running this job, that is) for some profile work (doc 1.5 x .12-.15 dia F225. S6250 spindle 90% ? - 100%?) and the hole I mentioned, I take it in 2 passes (doc) as the plate 1.4 finish thick.

The "Silver Bullet" are the best aluminum roughing end mills that I have ever used, and I occasionally try new ones. If a sales man comes to our shop, I am one of the people they talk to, and I am open minded about trying new tools, but I have not found an equal or better than. The Silver Bullet end mills are made by ABC Tools (from Arkansas). The company also makes some "kick-but" shell mills.
I run a 1/2 inch Silver Bullet doc .500 in mic-6 (the soft stuff) @ 7500rpm, slotting (full diameter) Feed at least 110 (definately at least 110, perhaps 120-130) and just watch steam (and maybe some smoke?) pour off of the tools as chips spray fast and furiuosly about the place. Good times!

[The White Fox]

On thier web site (abc tools, that is) one of thier customers said that they ran a 3/4 Silver Bullet, slotting (full diameter) s8000 f310 doc 1 inch, now granted that takes along the lines of 30hp but hey, cool stuff. I printed out some info from the web site and have it hanging in our tool crib so people know what these tools can do.

[fuzzyracing1967]

( Give a man a beer and he gets a slight reprieve from his old lady nagging. Teach him how to make beer(or show him how to get to the package store), and he can tune her out for the rest of his life. )

priceless

[sportbikeryder]

Originally Posted by The White Fox sportbikeryder - I appologise but I don't follow you "28-30in^/min mmr" but I am going with the 28-30 as Feed of 28.0 to 30.0 inchs per minute. Off the top of my head I know for certain I can go about F50 @ s5750 doc .75 full dia. I do that with a G13 in a customers part for a 4.00 thru hole. - and no, I run a 40T - and the spindle load spikes to something like 160% (just into the spindle load red zone) and settles back down to something like 120% - 130%. I only use this tool (when running this job, that is) for some profile work (doc 1.5 x .12-.15 dia F225. S6250 spindle 90% ? - 100%?) and the hole I mentioned, I take it in 2 passes (doc) as the plate 1.4 finish thick. The "Silver Bullet" are the best aluminum roughing end mills that I have ever used, and I occasionally try new ones. If a sales man comes to our shop, I am one of the people they talk to, and I am open minded about trying new tools, but I have not found an equal or better than. The Silver Bullet end mills are made by ABC Tools (from Arkansas). The company also makes some "kick-but" shell mills. I run a 1/2 inch Silver Bullet doc .500 in mic-6 (the soft stuff) @ 7500rpm, slotting (full diameter) Feed at least 110 (definately at least 110, perhaps 120-130) and just watch steam (and maybe some smoke?) pour off of the tools as chips spray fast and furiuosly about the place. Good times!

I was referring to cubic inches of material removal per minute. At your 50ipm, .75" ADOC, adn .75" RDOC (slot) that equals .75 * .75 * 50 = 28.125 cubic inches per minute removal. Pretty much along the lines of my experience with a 40T Haas machine.

Your initial post states .325 deep, at 200 ipm. If that is a slot, that is .325 * .75 * 200 = 48.75 cubis inches per minute.

[sportbikeryder]

White Fox,
I can;t seem to find a website for ABC.... do you have a link?
John

[The White Fox]

apparently I may have gotten myself in trouble with F200. @ .325 doc - sorry if I missled anyone, but I still stand by what else I have said.

This is thier website, and I have been here before but, for some reason, only this one page seems avalible. Maybe the website is being redone?

https://www.c-secure.org/ABC/order.cfm

Also, I noticed that they were listed under manta.com.