Machining Ultem 1000

BRIAN.T · Aug 21, 2020

I've never worked with the stuff, so I'm not what to expect.

The part is approximately 5" x 2" parallelogram, 1/2 thick at the bottom and about .100 at top. No surface is actually flat or parallel. It's an odd one, but +/- .005.

The actual shape isn't that important for you, except for the fact that I think adding a second op is going to be extremely difficult. Ideally ide like to everything in the 5 axis and tab it off.

Is ultem stable enough to machine a reasonably thin feature unsupported with tabs? Finally, can a tabbed edge be hand blended? Perhaps ide say, if this were aluminum it would easy.

Any tips would greatly appreciated. Thanks

Milland · Aug 21, 2020

I've not worked with in in a while (many years), but it machines very well. Use sharp, new cutters, but if drilling through "dub" drills a bit to lessen self-feeding. Regular helix endmills (~30°) work fine, don't use high-helix. Two flute carbide would be my choice. Helix in rather than plunge.

Whenever possible, use corner radius endmills for inside pockets to lower cracking risk. Some advise annealing the material to control stress relief movement, I don't remember having to do this.

Machining ULTEM: A Plastics Guide | AIP Precision Machining

Keep feeds/speeds moderate, control heat input. Using coolant is generally fine, it's pretty chemically resistant, but double-check there's no compounds in your coolant that can attack it. If using air blast ideally also use a vacuum hose to control the mess.

Leave tabs generously sized, you can clean them up with some graded final passes to reduce them, then wet sand to match the bulk material. It's a clean cutting plastic, but more brittle than, say, Delrin, so you can edge fracture if you abuse the cut parameters. Again, I like corner rad cutters where allowed.

Hope this helps, let us know how it goes...

BRIAN.T · Aug 22, 2020

Milland said:
I've not worked with in in a while (many years), but it machines very well. Use sharp, new cutters, but if drilling through "dub" drills a bit to lessen self-feeding. Regular helix endmills (~30°) work fine, don't use high-helix. Two flute carbide would be my choice. Helix in rather than plunge.

Whenever possible, use corner radius endmills for inside pockets to lower cracking risk. Some advise annealing the material to control stress relief movement, I don't remember having to do this.

Machining ULTEM: A Plastics Guide | AIP Precision Machining

Keep feeds/speeds moderate, control heat input. Using coolant is generally fine, it's pretty chemically resistant, but double-check there's no compounds in your coolant that can attack it. If using air blast ideally also use a vacuum hose to control the mess.

Leave tabs generously sized, you can clean them up with some graded final passes to reduce them, then wet sand to match the bulk material. It's a clean cutting plastic, but more brittle than, say, Delrin, so you can edge fracture if you abuse the cut parameters. Again, I like corner rad cutters where allowed.

Hope this helps, let us know how it goes...

This definitely does help, I appreciate it. I posted this question immediately after looking at the blueprint, but there seems to be a fair amount of info on cutting the stuff, I'm certainly less concerned about it after doing some reading.

Thanks for your help!

g-coder05 · Aug 22, 2020

As Milland said, "Sharp"! It machines great, holds sizes wonderfully. Just get on with it and dont feed hold or dwell, It galls up easily if you pussy foot around with it. And with the price tag on the material you don't want to waste anything. This is one of the parts Iv'e been running for years and I really enjoy machining it just not paying for it.

BRIAN.T · Aug 22, 2020

g-coder05 said:
As Milland said, "Sharp"! It machines great, holds sizes wonderfully. Just get on with it and dont feed hold or dwell, It galls up easily if you pussy foot around with it. And with the price tag on the material you don't want to waste anything. This is one of the parts Iv'e been running for years and I really enjoy machining it just not paying for it.

View attachment 297427

This is some excellent advise. I obviously run my first part slow, but I'll try my best not to this time!

Wsurfer · Aug 22, 2020

Like others have said, machines great, very stable,stays flat on larger flat parts. I used sharp tools (yg-1alupower) and aluminum feeds/speeds and flood coolant. Parts were 12" diameter × .7" thick with pockets (not thin wall though) and a hundred threaded 10-32 holes. It was a fixture for submerging parts in hydrofluoric acid. I really like machining the stuff when compared to polywarpolene.

BRIAN.T · Aug 22, 2020

Wsurfer said:
Like others have said, machines great, very stable,stays flat on larger flat parts. I used sharp tools (yg-1alupower) and aluminum feeds/speeds and flood coolant. Parts were 12" diameter × .7" thick with pockets (not thin wall though) and a hundred threaded 10-32 holes. It was a fixture for submerging parts in hydrofluoric acid. I really like machining the stuff when compared to polywarpolene.

I appreciate the help. I'm glad it stays flat, thats the concern here. I feel very good about this project. Thanks

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