Titanium cutting? What to use!

[Tazzer]

Its me again. I have a couple extra questions that I hope that you guys might be able to help me with.

I am going to be milling some titanium on a fourth axis. We basically just got in a Haas High Speed Indexer for our Haas VF-1.

I am going to mill some 6AL-4V Titanium Rod on the Forth Axis and will be needing some 1/32. 1/16, and 1/8 ball end mills. I was wondering on if anyone had any suggestions on what type of endmills would work best on milling titanium with only a max spindle speed of 7500. Especially on the 1/32 and 1/16 endmills.

This is the calculations that I am using
FPM 225
Chip Load .0012
Flutes either 3 or 4 Not sure yet
Tool Dia of .03125 .0625 and .125

With these numbers I get a max pindle speed of 27500. That is 20000 to much.

I have never touched a piece of titanium so any suggestions on speed feeds, cut depths, and what tyoe of endmills to use.

Any suggestions or help will be great.

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[Klox]

Tazzer,
LOTS & LOTS of COOLANT. Titanium actually machine "nice". It "feels" different from other materials. If you let it job harden while cutting your a bit stuck. It chews up tool inserts easily when speeds & feeds are not right. I have turned, milled & drilled titanium. (only on conventional machines). I always use medium speeds & feeds when i'm new to matl & then work from there......
When you edm this stuff the sludge it makes is pitch black and sort of oily....

Klox

[CDignition]

the best endmills out there for Ti are Dataflute...they have many diffrent geometries available, and it is best to call their tech line to get suggestions...

I have done ALOT of 6al-4v...have never had it work harden, but it can be a pain with sub standard tooling...sharp is your best friend..

[hardmill]

You'll definetly be maxing out your spindle. Your chip load is going
to be governed by your depth of cut, type of cut, step over,
Blah, Blah Blah....
I'd look at robbjack for the size mills your using. Or OSG.
If you send me your info I can find you any thing you need.

PEACE

[Tazzer]

Thanks guys for all the suggestions and help I ended up calling the Dataflute place about and gave me a bunch of help and are sending my school some sample endmills to experiment with. A great group of guys. Plus they gave me a good estimate on my Speed, Feeds, and DOC.


However I do have one more question for you guys. I am using mastercam can I simply create a box with the height being the circumference of the rod we will be engraving/embossing on. Then toolpath it and once posted simply change the Y Axis to the A axis?

[Paul_S]

I have programmed the machining of Magnesium, but not titanium. I have machined titanium as an operator.

Make sure your tools are sharp. Dull tools can damage the parts you are trying to machine. Such as micro surface cracks.

Lots of coolant is a must. Keep it cool (safety issue.)

Have a class D (yes 'D') fire exstingusiher at the machine, just in
case of a chip fire. Titanium burns much like Magnesium, except hotter. (the reason for this post.)

As to the cutters to use, consult your tool manufacture(s.)

[avsfan733]

its not just a safety issue for keeping it cool. The reason that titanium must be welded in an inert envirorment is because of the nature of its oxidation. if the temperature rises and its allowed to oxidize, it becomes brittle and all the strength and weight savings, as well as cost, go for naught