Solid Carbide miniature high feed mills???

[g-coder05]

This popped up in my feed today and definitely caught my eye. I didn't even know they made solid carbide high feed mills. There's a lot of yapping in this guys vid but the ending is pretty good. The firs few minutes are showing the tool but the cutting doesn't start until the 27 minute area. He's more impressed showing his Kern making pocket knives. For the life of me I cant see having a Kern and using Fusion.

The first few dry cuts are not at full speed. After he verifies the path he starts slotting 1/16 wide in Titanium at nearly 80IPM! getting 250 minutes of tool life at those speeds could make it worth $80 for a 1/16 endmill....

 

[MariTool]

We just started carrying them also. Feedback has been great.

Tool Holders, Collets and Machine Accessories Solid Carbide High Feed - MariTool

www.maritool.com

Speeds and feeds are in the product description.

 

[g-coder05]

We just started carrying them also. Feedback has been great.

Tool Holders, Collets and Machine Accessories Solid Carbide High Feed - MariTool

www.maritool.com

Speeds and feeds are in the product description.

Wow, 400 IPM with a 1/8 mill is smokin!!!

 

[lobust]

This popped up in my feed today and definitely caught my eye. I didn't even know they made solid carbide high feed mills.

Jabro and WNT at least have been making them for years, but the smallest I've gone is 6mm. I don't have the rpms to use them to their best.

I recently threw away a 10mm Prototyp branded (from before they were acquired by Walter) one that I've had for at least ten years. Rarely used, took that long to destroy it.

So they've been around a while.

They are excellent problem solvers.

 

[Mhajicek]

I got 4 of Helical's 3mm HFM for a job cutting hundreds of parts out of 1/8" thick plates of Ti, for roughing between the parts. Got through the whole job on the first cutter, and have used it for odd jobs since. Other three still in the box.

 

[MariTool]

Jabro and WNT at least have been making them for years, but the smallest I've gone is 6mm. I don't have the rpms to use them to their best.

I recently threw away a 10mm Prototyp branded (from before they were acquired by Walter) one that I've had for at least ten years. Rarely used, took that long to destroy it.

So they've been around a while.

They are excellent problem solvers.

What was your depth of cut in Z axis?

 

[lobust]

What was your depth of cut in Z axis?

I honestly don't remember without going back and looking for some old programs where I used them.

I have a general rule of thumb as a starting point for high feed of ap about 2% of the cutter diameter and fz at around 2-4% depending on what I'm cutting. It works pretty well across the board.

 

[MariTool]

I honestly don't remember without going back and looking for some old programs where I used them.

I have a general rule of thumb as a starting point for high feed of ap about 2% of the cutter diameter and fz at around 2-4% depending on what I'm cutting. It works pretty well across the board.

Awesome, thank you. I assume AP is the depth in z-axis. FZ is feed per tooth?

 

[Herding Cats]

Wow, 400 IPM with a 1/8 mill is smokin!!!

Given the fact a cutter that small is usually used for intricate geometry, I would suspect most machines would struggle to achieve a feed rate like that or faster.

I also think those SFM numbers are VERY conservative (if you have a 20K+ spindle for the small tools). In mild steel most feed mills list SFM in that area and I run them around 850 SFM all day long with air blast......no coolant.

When the need arises I will be trying some of these out. I've been very impressed with the spiral flute chamfer mills I got from Maritool.

 

[lobust]

Awesome, thank you. I assume AP is the depth in z-axis. FZ is feed per tooth?

Correct on both, yes.

Given the fact a cutter that small is usually used for intricate geometry, I would suspect most machines would struggle to achieve a feed rate like that or faster.

I also think those SFM numbers are VERY conservative (if you have a 20K+ spindle for the small tools). In mild steel most feed mills list SFM in that area and I run them around 850 SFM all day long with air blast......no coolant.

When the need arises I will be trying some of these out. I've been very impressed with the spiral flute chamfer mills I got from Maritool.

Cutting dry makes a huge difference on feed mills, I 100% agree. 850 is pushing it pretty well though IME - I tend to run in mild steel at 240m/min, which is closer to 800sfm. If running coolant, tool life plummets hard at that speed. I run a lot of bigger feed mills - 60-100mm - and it's difficult to run those dry unless the time in cut is low, otherwise the tool bodies tend to get too hot.

In stainless, cutting dry is mandatory to achieve any kind of tool life. I run a lot of low alloy steel where the tool is in cut for a long time and that requires coolant to keep the tool from heating up too much. Air isn't sufficient.

 

[Herding Cats]

850 is pushing it pretty well though IME - I tend to run in mild steel at 240m/min, which is closer to 800sfm

On my Hitachi's I tend to get away with running harder grades which will take a bit more speed. Dual column with lots of iron really shines when you start to push things.

 

[Mhajicek]

In stainless, cutting dry is mandatory to achieve any kind of tool life. I run a lot of low alloy steel where the tool is in cut for a long time and that requires coolant to keep the tool from heating up too much. Air isn't sufficient.

Interesting. I've been doing it the other way around; coolant on stainless and air on alloy.

 

[lobust]

Interesting. I've been doing it the other way around; coolant on stainless and air on alloy.

I did a job last year where I did about 75% material removal from 10" 316 bar, all of the roughing was contoured pocketing using high feed. That's where I discovered that tool life was monumentally better dry. Just controlling the heat...