Haas facemilling:coolant yes or no

[joesimmers]

I am the the proud owner of a new Vf2. On my old 5 hp toolroom cnc mill I always facemilled (3" diameter) dry because when I added flood coolant it was a horrendous cleanup!! Can some of you other more experienced VMC operators tell me do you normally use flood coolant with face mills? My main materials that I machine are 6061, mild steel(1020) and A2 tool steel.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Joe Simmers
Simmers Machine

[automizer]

I would use coolant but what type of inserts are you using in the face mill?

[joesimmers]

It is a newer style Iscar facemill with 6 inserts, not sure of the
insert numbers right now but can find out tomorrow if it makes a difference.

I also have a 2" one with 4 inserts.

Thanks, Joe

[HuFlungDung]

I'd say "yes, coolant for aluminum", and "no, dry for steel". I just find that often I don't get good insert life when using coolant on carbide when cutting steel, so I run it dry with air blast to move the chips.

There are so darn many grades of carbide out there now, there may be something that can tolerate thermal stress/shock that I don't know about. I usually keep a stock of moldy old inserts on hand, so I may be well behind on the latest and greatest insert grade.

[Geof]

Like Hu says; aluminum flood and steel dry. With flood on Aluminum you can take advantage of the extra power and speed you have in the VF2. I suppose with steel if you could really flood, that is have the cutter totally immersed in coolant 100% of the time then it would work because there would be no thermal shock. But I can't figure out how this is possible.

[PBMW]

Same here. Flood alum, as much spindle as your machine has. Steel, Dry at 200sfm in most stainless. I have a general rule of thumb, in steel, anything above 500sfm, I run dry. Works well for me

[MR D]

vf-2 30hp 3" face mill mitsu 875 rpm
33.0 feed rate .187 depth cut @40 % on spindle mat 3x3 steel cr full ingagement of 3" width no problems

[weaston]

From what I've seen, I would cut dry but with airblast to get rid of the shavings (They're a killer).

[joesimmers]

Originally Posted by weaston From what I've seen, I would cut dry but with airblast to get rid of the shavings (They're a killer).

How do you hook an airblast up to your mill? How is this plumbed on the vf2?
Anyone with a detailed pic I would love to see it.

Thanks, joe

[timf]

the insert you are using and the material you are cutting will detemine wethere you want air, coolant or nothing.
if you have an enclosed machine you should atleast use air to evacuate the chips so you don't "recut" them.

look at the manufactures recomendations for the insert and material.
if you use coolant and you shouldn't have, your insert will suffer from thermal shock from the heat generated at the point of contact and the coolant quenching the heat and the edges won't hold up very well.


i have 2 vf3 ss and puchased both with an air gun option all mounted to the head with m function on/off.
have older machines we just plumbed an air line over the top into the machine and hook up a valve to the end of the line pointing towards the spindle.

[Newby2]

You should be able to get a techinical guide from your insert supplier/salesman free of charge if he/she wants to maintain your business. I have gotten a full set of Seco tech publications and a huge one from Ingersol, both from the salesman.
They contain speed and feeds for all the tooling they make including info about wet or dry cutting. I cut a varity of steels, mild, tool, stainless, alloys, super alloys and have been able to find the information I've needed in these FREE books!
Steve

[J Harding]

Originally Posted by joesimmers How do you hook an airblast up to your mill? How is this plumbed on the vf2? Anyone with a detailed pic I would love to see it. Thanks, joe

I used a solenoid valve connected to a plug in place of the coolant pump plug and a LocLine nozzle. That way when the machine calls for coolant I get an air blast instead.

John