milling aluminium What tool for Chip control

I have always run carbide Alum. specific end mills But Im thinking about an indexable for these parts since they start at 30 lbs and finish at 3 lbs w/ a 1/8 wall thickness 3/8 corners 1 3/4 deep.

Matl 2124 T8

machine Vertical 30 hp box ways

No high pressure on the machine I want to ONLY rough these on ,but its ok.

My thinking is an indexable will make a much more compact chip faster not filling multiple containers AND since I have to deal with a BUNCH of chips I would rather haul these to the scrappers than multiple trips to the to the dumpster.

And I have seen this thread by Dangle kt

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/cnc-machining/indexable-milling-tools-alu-333838/

In regards to
Seco
Koroloy
Mitsubishi

Anyone want to weigh in on this topic.
Thanks


Also ,I have searched PM on this topic but no one seems to address this issue.

cmccull166 said:

I have always run carbide Alum. specific end mills But Im thinking about an indexable for these parts since they start at 30 lbs and finish at 3 lbs w/ a 1/8 wall thickness 3/8 corners 1 3/4 deep.

Matl 2124 T8

machine Vertical 30 hp box ways

No high pressure on the machine I want to ONLY rough these on ,but its ok.

My thinking is an indexable will make a much more compact chip faster not filling multiple containers AND since I have to deal with a BUNCH of chips I would rather haul these to the scrappers than multiple trips to the to the dumpster.

And I have seen this thread by Dangle kt

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/cnc-machining/indexable-milling-tools-alu-333838/

In regards to
Seco
Koroloy
Mitsubishi

Anyone want to weigh in on this topic.
Thanks


Also ,I have searched PM on this topic but no one seems to address this issue.

Click to expand...

.
roughing end mill like corn cob type makes smaller chips. they also make carbide inserts that are wavy too so act like corn cob cutter too. also usually if you have high flow coolant it washes chips away like a fire hose it just blasts the chips and they wash away

DMF_TomB said:

.
roughing end mill like corn cob type makes smaller chips. they also make carbide inserts that are wavy too so act like corn cob cutter too. also usually if you have high flow coolant it washes chips away like a fire hose it just blasts the chips and they wash away

Click to expand...

Well!!! Thats an option which never crossed my mind .
Thanks DMF

What diameter and rpm are we looking at? Also what pocket depth? Corncob end mills do have distinct advantages, using some in aluminum right now.

DavidScott said:

What diameter and rpm are we looking at? Also what pocket depth? Corncob end mills do have distinct advantages, using some in aluminum right now.

Click to expand...

I have 6k spindle 3/4 diameter, more for LOC than anything other reason. 1.75 deep

Rougher is the way to go. You'll save a TON of space, although I never seem to get a rougher to sound particularly happy at high feeds.

I would go as big as you can to ma out your 6K. 30 horse should be enough to do some real work.

cmccull166 said:

I have 6k spindle 3/4 diameter, more for LOC than anything other reason. 1.75 deep

Click to expand...

Then a good corncob end mill is the best way to go. MA Ford or Garr would be my choices. With Garr you can get it coated, just ask. I am currently slotting with a 3/16" corncob mill with a .0056" chip load .236" deep, recommended chip load is .003". I think what is limiting my chip load is I can't clear the chips well enough. With more coolant pressure I could cut faster. If you can hold onto the part and end mill well enough you may be able to increase your feed rates above the recommended .015"-.04" chip load for a 3/4" MA Ford corncob mill. The harder you feed the more compact the chips will be. If your machine can't handle the high feedrates you may want to reduce the rpm to increase the chip load.

Have you weighed the chips you are making now and calculated density?
For comparison, my aluminum mill chips are about .01 lbs per cubic inch, which is 10% of solid aluminum. I only know this because I was trying to maximize my payload to the scrapyard and figuring container size per ton.
To get that I was using Iscar EAL tools, which are a lot like ripper mills, most of those tools appear to have similar geometry. The chips are tight little curls and rather thick, they shovel like shelled corn or pea gravel. We found that they did an excellent job of lofting the chips up and out of the pockets, until the pocket was too narrow and too deep to let the chip get over the side, then some of them would accumulate and get recut. I once only had 10 hp and 6000 RPM, a 1.25" or 2" dia EAL tool did most of the roughing then smaller tools to finish tight areas. The larger tool gave us more rigidity for deeper cuts. The mill chips are too heavy to blow out completely with air, so we went to plunge milling for the deeper pockets, and that produces similar chips.

I'd say corn cob tools are good but a more modern tool with a good aggressive chip breaker may be even better. We make cob cutters but our alumigator cuts a more consistent curled small chip way faster.

Mitsubishi AXD4000, 2" cutter, 1.4 inches wide, 3/8" DoC 240 IPM on a 10hp machine pulling a theoretical 126 cu in/min and was just starting to bog the spindle. They do trials, I'd take a serious look at them.

Try one of these:
Diamond Back - Destiny Tool

I'm using their 1/2" version and it's unreal.

Aluminum Cutters

TUNGALOY ALUMILL is on promo
Buy 10 inserts get a free 1.5" shell mill cutter

High dish, polished insert is perfect. Follow up with a Niagara Elite High Performance 3 FL endmill with polished face for finishing if needed.

Scrap the destiny crap.....we have seen these to be as good as something from China out on the east coast.

Jason Radner
www.GRCToolSupply.com