Alu - best roughing tool

[Dangle_kt]

I'm looking at a good value (not the cheapest) roughing endmill for clearing aluinium as quick as possible. I'm running a Haas TM1, so not unlimited power, but more than many benchtop machines..

I am trying to find a shear hog type tool which uses inserts and is nice and rigid - the insert tooling appeals as long as I can rotate the insert 4 times or more (circle) to get a reasonable amount of chips out of a set of inserts - that seems a better value option than chunky carbide endmills that get binned, I am currently using uncoated 3 flute carbide end mills by Europa - they do a reasonable job, but I need to speed up removal rates.

I am specifically after faster removal rates to drop cycle times, as currently even simple parts are taking 17 and 13 mins each (top side and bottom respectivly), and I'm sure I can optimise it down to maybe half that - they are all straight edges so no complex machining, or requirement to step to give a good profile for a finishing bullnose or simular to make any curves or anything.

I'm think insert tool to hog out material, then straight to two finishing passes, one for the floor and one for the sides.

The difficulty I have is I'm new to this, so don't have a specific tool supplier, I'm based in the UK so a lot of advice online is more for the USA.

Anyone point me at a good tool brand, and a reseller who isn't going to slam the phone down when I try and order 1 rather than 300,

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[RCaffin]

I am not sure that an insert end mill will be better than an aluminium-specific carbide end mill.

Cheers
Roger

[Dangle_kt]

Thanks Roger, the point is I currently run a 10mm solid carbide 3 flute end mill, which is great for what it is. I got a few on offer for £20 each, but at retail they are £70ish. So to get a decent size end mill for faster clearance I'll be paying serious money, and once its used, it's used. I think I could get indexable endmill for maybe the price of two end mills, which would be able to refresh with new inserts for £20 a time - so in the long run it works out better value.

The point is I need to up the diameter to increase removal rates, but don't think solid carbide is the answer, so wanted pointers on insert tooling.

[JFettig]

Hard to say without having more application specific details. I recently got a 3" disk mill that cut 20 minutes out of my 50 minute cycle time, huge savings! Thru spindle coolant and big indexable drill would have cut out another 5-10 minutes as well but cost starts adding up fast.

Programming techniques can also give you massive time savings.

[RCaffin]

Hi Dangle

I don't know what the end mill you are using looks like. The point of my comment is that you can now buy aluminium-specific carbide end mills which are shaped differently from conventional (steel-oriented) end mills. They are much sharper and are designed for shearing the aluminium off in larger slices, so they can give you a bigger MRR. I doubt that any insert end mill can match them on aluminium: the inserts are just not as sharp.

Cheers
Roger

[rcs60]

can you give more information on what you are doing
max machine rpm
rpm currently cutting
feed rate
depth of cut
radial depth of cut
exact material
with this information the people on this site could give you better information

i agree with rcaffin about the indexable end mills

i also agree with JFETTIG about the programing techniques

[precisionmetal]

Check out some of Helical's offerings for coated carbide aluminum roughers.

Helical Solutions - End Mill for Aluminum - 3 Flute, Corner Radius - 45

[warrenb]

What? The UK has sales reps that slam the phone down on you? AND you want to challenge advice you ask for?

Keep calling until you find a sales rep who doesn't slam the phone down on you when you want to buy their product.

You want a cheap endmill that does what an expensive endmill can accomplish but you also want a high end indexible endmill that is cheap that does what a high end endmill can accomplish. I would also like a Toyota Hilux diesel that goes 200mph and at 100 miles per gallon while pulling a 10,000lb caravan

OR, you can just buy some 12mm HSS roughers and hog through aluminum all day long. Which grade aluminum??? 50xx 60xx 70xx? Gotta be more specific here.

Thanks Roger, the point is I currently run a 10mm solid carbide 3 flute end mill, which is great for what it is. I got a few on offer for £20 each, but at retail they are £70ish. So to get a decent size end mill for faster clearance I'll be paying serious money, and once its used, it's used. I think I could get indexable endmill for maybe the price of two end mills, which would be able to refresh with new inserts for £20 a time - so in the long run it works out better value.

The point is I need to up the diameter to increase removal rates, but don't think solid carbide is the answer, so wanted pointers on insert tooling.

I'm looking at a good value (not the cheapest) roughing endmill for clearing aluinium as quick as possible. I'm running a Haas TM1, so not unlimited power, but more than many benchtop machines..

I am trying to find a shear hog type tool which uses inserts and is nice and rigid - the insert tooling appeals as long as I can rotate the insert 4 times or more (circle) to get a reasonable amount of chips out of a set of inserts - that seems a better value option than chunky carbide endmills that get binned, I am currently using uncoated 3 flute carbide end mills by Europa - they do a reasonable job, but I need to speed up removal rates.

I am specifically after faster removal rates to drop cycle times, as currently even simple parts are taking 17 and 13 mins each (top side and bottom respectivly), and I'm sure I can optimise it down to maybe half that - they are all straight edges so no complex machining, or requirement to step to give a good profile for a finishing bullnose or simular to make any curves or anything.

I'm think insert tool to hog out material, then straight to two finishing passes, one for the floor and one for the sides.

The difficulty I have is I'm new to this, so don't have a specific tool supplier, I'm based in the UK so a lot of advice online is more for the USA.

Anyone point me at a good tool brand, and a reseller who isn't going to slam the phone down when I try and order 1 rather than 300,

[tbev]

I'm assuming your have a ShearHog? Your looking to one up the ShearHog in mmr?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Ydna]

I think the issue you'll encounter is that the TM machines don't have a tremendous amount of power behind the tool, so increasing the diameter beyond a certain size will quickly meet the power limit on the machine. I don't have a TM but I used to have a Superminimill, and we ran a lot of aluminum-specific carbide roughers as people mentioned above. The biggest size I used was 3/4" or 20mm. Going above that and it was just too easy to stall the machine, depending on how the workpiece was programmed.

As you said, the large size carbide endmills are expensive, but if you go with a brand-name company I think you'll be impressed with the lifetime. I have a couple 3/4" roughers that have hundreds and hundreds of cutting hours on them, the tools are years old at this point, and are still extremely sharp and totally ready to rip it up.

[Machineit]

As others have said, insert type mills are not the best for low power machines. They are not as sharp and don't have the optimum chip relief.

Many years ago, SGS came out with what they called the Ski-Carb or something like that. It was a combination of higher helix and different lands after the cutting edge. The were expensive at about $150.00 for a half inch endmill, but they were great for high metal removal. The are still made, but they are now others. There used to be a patent on the design, but I believe it has expired.

Alu-Power is what I use now.. They are made overseas somewhere but I buy them off of eBay. Very nice finish and you can push them hard. They are very inexpensive for how good they work. While they are center cutting, they don't plunge well and tend to load up in the center. I generally enter a hole for them. But after that you can really remove a lot of material.

Below is a link to a 3/4" one, but I use 1/2" and 5/8".

3/4" YG1 Alu-Power 3 Flute Regular Length Carbide End Mill for Aluminum | eBay

Mike

[JFettig]

I really like the YG1 Alu-Power end mills, they work very well and produce very nice finishes - better than SGS. SGS seems to take more abuse. For the money, I stick with YG1 most of the time for aluminum.

[Ken_Shea]

I really like the end mills, they work very well and produce very nice finishes - better than SGS. SGS seems to take more abuse. For the money, I stick with YG1 most of the time for aluminum.

I agree whole heatedly JFettig, they are not a rougher but cut great and as you say leave a superior finish, I like their low prices too .
They are now my goto end mill. Remains to be seen on their longevity as they are of powdered metal construction, that said so far so good.

These are what I purchased.

3/8" YG1 Alu-Power 3 Flute Extra Long Length Carbide End Mill for Aluminum | eBay

They are as polished as the picture shows and really sharp.