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I don't use face mills.
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I'm planning a Tormach PCNC1100 purchase early next year, so I have been tool shopping for vises, calipers, etc.... and one item I am undecided on is a good face mill. I like the TTS system, and will likely start off with the CNC set, but the 1.5" face mill seems a bit spendy when compared with some of the offerings from say, Shars.
The last face mill I used was 10 years ago, and was a 5" Kennametal unit in a 20 horse cat 50 spindle.
What are the practical limits with a 2HP R8? Is a 2.5" too much tool for the Tormach?
Danny Brija
I don't use face mills.
From my experience a face mill carbide or Hi speed requires more HP than you will have on your machine. Fly cutter heads are available at a cheap price and the tool bits that you use are also inexpensive. These give you a beautiful finish and will work well on your machine. If you want to make your own you can put two tools staggered so one does the rough cut and the following tool takes a minimal cut. These work great. I have an old fly cutter head that I have used for many years 6" diameter with R8.
Mel White
I have a 1.5" seco nano turbo that has eight XOMX 06 inserts and that has worked well.I had to turn the shank.
I have recently purchased a 1" Micro100 tool it has a .7500" shank and it works fantastic.It also has a long body to it.
It uses four APKT 10 inserts in many grades and I use APCR IC28 inserts for aluminum.My inserts are ISCAR.
I also have the same tool in 3/8" and 1/2" diameters and it has cut down on using solid carbides greatly.
The machine handles it with no issue's.
I do not go over .06" cuts and 65% stepover with light feedrates.
I plan to try one (3/8") with a .125 rad insert for profiling to see how it does.
If your just going to use it for facing and no square shoulders get one with a 45 degree lead, you will get long life from your inserts.
Thats all from the garage.
Cheers
I used to use a cheap r8 3 insert face mill with medium results. I recently got the tts face mill and could not be happier. I used to avoid using my face mill as it was too difficult to figure out the right tool offset mid program. I would just do my facing operations with a 0.500" 4 flute. Being TTS the new face mill was a simple addition to my regular tool table and the first set of feeds/speeds I went with worked flawlessly.
I realize this is more the inserts then the holder but the combination of being part of the TTS, as well as the great choice of inserts make it a tool I don't regret buying. As a result I am looking at more of the TTS modular tools. My tooling supplier is good, but tormach knows these machines best and time and time again show that they put a lot of time and research into making sure their customers money is well spent.
No not true I use a 3" face mill it depends on the type of insert and it does a great job a real great job you can get a cheap insert r8 face mill off ebay that will do just fine and yes the machine has plenty of power for it. SS 17-4 .05 2.5" wide pass at 750rpm slow feed does super nice finish yes fly cutters do a good job I just dont like them for something I need to have a certain height for.Originally Posted by Mel White
NEW 3" 45 DEGREE INDEXABLE FACEMILL W/10 INSERTS - eBay (item 390269406591 end time Dec-12-10 17:54:28 PST)
something like this except I use the r8 holder and all the 45 degree works great and yes I use this all the time at work and at home in my shop and at work I have tried alot of tooling very nice budget and still find the 45 degree inserts do a better job at lasting on hard metals I machine alot of hardened 17-4 ss they just flat out work great. I dont know if something like this will work on the tts tooling or not?
I am using a 3" FM as well and that is on a 770. I can generally face most parts with one pass. I don't take large cuts with this so should not hurt the machine. Expensive, but creates some very nice finishes as well.
Square Insert Shell Mill 45deg X 3.15 dia MariTool
Has anyone tried the type with triangular inserts? These are attractive because the inserts are cheap and available, but I have a feeling they don't cut has nicely. Here is a link to the type I mean:
2" 90º INDEXABLE FACE SHELL MILL CUTTER TPKN INSERT NEW - eBay (item 350256348996 end time Dec-17-10 10:34:30 PST)
I bought a 3" Glacern face mill during one of their sales and get nearly a mirror finish on aluminum. It usually sees pretty modest cut depths (<= 0.025" ) and feeds (<= 10 ipm). In aluminum, that amounts to less than 0.3 HP so it doesn't overload the spindle motor.
Mike
Thanks all for the replies.
I had forgotten about Maritool. I like that 80mm mill, and the price is pretty reasonable. Glacern has some nice mills, but Shars or Maritool are priced much lower. I was going to limit myself to 2.5"max, but looks like 3" would be OK.
Here's an idea. Why don't you try making one yourself? I mean this in the most positive sense. It's a great project to use 3d toolpaths, a little lathe work, indexing, etc and the reward is a sweet tool you made yourself. Integrate a TTS shank to 4-5 fluted indexable facemill of your choosing to the size of your choice. You might even do a couple of statics equations to see if you're going to pull the tool out of the holder at 2hp. There's a reason the Tormach facemill has such a small diameter with the TTS. Good luck.
Concentricity is the first thing to come to my mind.Here's an idea. Why don't you try making one yourself?
Pay for a good quality cutter.
Not saying you wouldn't be succesful.
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