Fastest MRR (6061-T6 or T6511)

[Bob La Londe]

Depending on how it holds up the price is less of an issue for a pro-hobbyist than a pure hobbyist, but its definitely worth noting. $395 is pretty steep. I can buy halfway decent small shell/face mills for the same or less. (Steel ones. Not aluminum imports.) Its still cheaper than some of the big name indexables though.

I did a quick search for a 1/2 carbide rougher and I didn't see one for for under $20. I did find a few HSS Cobalt ones. My price for Interstate from MSC was 16.95, but I pretty much run all carbide uncoated due to lower incidence of chip welding in my experience. For steel I tend towards AlTiN coated carbide. I haven't run much ZrN, although I admit I probably need to get some experience with it for aluminum. ZrN coated 1/2" roughers sure aren't under $20 though. LOL.

[warrenb]

Are HSM milling strategies not an option for your software? You can run smaller cutters at full depth with the constant load and remove material fast. I don't know Tormach but I have an old Bridgeport CNC1 from 1979 with a 1999 centroid control I can save a ton of time using HSM roughing from my software.

[Bob La Londe]

HSM Strategies are very much an option. Even if your CAM software doesn't do it very well, there are ways you can take advantage of the techniques for atleast some types of cuts. I often plan cuts with that in mind. Surfacing off a modest depth of material is one area where it does work very well.

[mountaindew]

MD
You forgot to mention one very important "attribute"

$395.00 !!!

Step

I agree it is a bit over priced for what it is. Most good quality tools or solutions to a given problem, come at a price. I posted the info mostly because it makes a claim as to what it can do per HP.
Anyway that tool can plow out more swarf in 5 minutes then I create in 5 weeks. I do mostly 5c holding format in vise and or 4th axis and don't run many "cookie cutter" programs that plow out huge amounts of material. A super fly set as wide as possible is handy to re-surface mini pallets or put a mirror finish on a large surface of a part that's about it.

[Bob La Londe]

I agree it is a bit over priced for what it is. Most good quality tools or solutions to a given problem, come at a price. I posted the info mostly because it makes a claim as to what it can do per HP.

Anyway that tool can plow out more swarf in 5 minutes then I create in 5 weeks. I do mostly 5c holding format in vise and or 4th axis and don't run many "cookie cutter" programs that plow out huge amounts of material. A super fly set as wide as possible is handy to re-surface mini pallets or put a mirror finish on a large surface of a part that's about it.

To be clear while the roughing of a hinged mold such as the one posted previously is pretty rote work, at this time 95%-99% of my work is custom. Just trying to simplify and speed up the boring (no pun intended) parts and maybe create a little more rote work so I can spend more of my personal hours working on fun stuff.

[skrubol]

Sounds like a good match for a Shear Hog. .25" DOC is right at its sweet zone, and you shouldn't have much trouble maxing the HP of the machine. But a 1/2" Aluminum rougher would probably do quite well as well. Or a face mill. Sure the Face mill will need more steps down, but fewer step overs, so I'd think the acceleration issue would be moot. Superfly is tough to beat for shallow DOC on machines this size especially if surface finish matters.
What kind of material removal per week do these ops do? It takes a while to pay for one of those shear hogs at over $200 + $20/insert if you could get away with $40-60 1/2" roughers.

[Bob La Londe]

Thanks everybody. Really. Right now I am probably not running the most efficient methods. I often optimize jobs to reduce tool changes rather than necessarily the fastest job, but I also look at job time very closely. I rarely do a job with a run time of under an hour. Most jobs are atleast a few hours. That approach I hope to improve with the working tool changer on the 1100. Still using up 4 slots with drill bits is probably not something I'm likely to do. I may still setup jobs with spiral interpolation for single holes for example.

I'm not opposed to a Shear Hog soley because of price. Although it is something to consider.

I'm also not opposed to trying a rougher or rougher/finisher. I found them to be tough tools to manage in the past, but I had a lot less knowledge and experience then.

Sadly I've just been so busy I've still not got the 1100 setup. Its operational, but I'm still installing the enclosure (the shell is on- still needs glass front doors, and lights) and I want to make a coolant manifold with multiple nozzles to replace the single nozzle it comes with.