Titanium and Magnesium

[billystein]

i like to rough titanium with cobalt roughers with the black coating(tialn). i run at 50 sfm. carbide for finishing. 1/2 em about 2000 rpm and 10 to 15 ipm.
neither material reams well but if you must you can use carbide with ti. i have not tried reaming mag with carbide but it is a disaster with hss of cobalt.
also mag cuts close to aluminum speed. and ti runs more like medium tough stainless.

[besc]

Thanks for all your help guys. Been away for awhile. Now guess what? I need some info on cutting clear polycarbonate (Lexan). Im thinking the first thing I need to worry about is bumming up my tooling. Is this a lgitimate worry and if so how do I prevent it. Any info welcome.

By now your probably wandering " Who is this guy". Mike.

[billystein]

one thing i learned about drilling plastic is slow the speed and raise the feed.
for a 1/4 to 1/2 drill try about 2000 rpm and 15-20 ipm feed peck .05 to .08, keep the chips clearing from the drill. the second the chips start wrapping around the tool the material will begin to melt.

[besc]

I here you. The first time I drilled plastic thats exactly what happened. I had to throw the drill away, and the part. Im guessing that along these same lines that you have to use high feed rates for milling as well? Cant find much machining data in the books I have. Mike.

[eorourke]

I would use a 3 Flute x 50 Degree helix SC endmill TIALN coated for milling the titanium. I would run it at 80- 120SFM and the chip load will vary with the DOC. (radial). Run an air blast with this and it will work well. As others have mentioned, be careful with the mag as it will start on fire.

[eorourke]

Depending on the thickness, I would consider H2O jet cutting it.