Hey guys, I just got my BP VMC1000/22 up and running after a few weeks of literal crash course in all things CNC. My backround is 10+ years of manual machining, so I'm familiar enough with the basics and theories. But as anyone who's made the transition can attest, cnc speeds/feeds are terrifying (at first) to any manual machinist LOL.
The part I'm trying to make is in 1045 CRS. Normally, it would be a lathe part, but for my small run, it doesn't make sense to farm out. I acquired the mill for scrap price because people couldn't diagnose a $15 part so I might as well use it for something. Cycle time is the absolute lowest priority, tool life and least amount of junk parts trump all. I have plenty of other things to keep me busy in the shop while the mill hums away.
I cut this part using an HTC 4 flute 1/2x2 LOC solid carbide mill with flood coolant in a solid holder. Sadly, the length is needed due to part depth and finishing the shaft OD. Speeds and feeds are posted in the attached screenshots which sounded good and didn't chatter. I was rather shocked to see the endmill so destroyed. I'm not remotely opposed to buying some good tooling like this, but I cant afford to kill $100 endmills figuring this part out. A $32 endmill was within the crash course budget. Looking at the mill, it obviously ran hot at the corners despite running in a bowl of coolant. So I know I need to get more heat into the chips instead of the tool.
A couple thoughts beyond solely stepping up to the 5/8 endmill were - #1 there are .75" holes that go all the way through this part on the same Z axis that I'm working on, so I could drill a hole to drop into and radial out in a morhped pattern with ~.75" DOC and ~.060" radial stepover. #2 was to switch over to a 5/8 rougher or 3/4 indexable end mill for hogging and just use the 5 flute 5/8 for finishing.
If anyone has any suggestions of what to try or what worked for them, I'm all ears! Thanks guys!
The part I'm trying to make is in 1045 CRS. Normally, it would be a lathe part, but for my small run, it doesn't make sense to farm out. I acquired the mill for scrap price because people couldn't diagnose a $15 part so I might as well use it for something. Cycle time is the absolute lowest priority, tool life and least amount of junk parts trump all. I have plenty of other things to keep me busy in the shop while the mill hums away.
I cut this part using an HTC 4 flute 1/2x2 LOC solid carbide mill with flood coolant in a solid holder. Sadly, the length is needed due to part depth and finishing the shaft OD. Speeds and feeds are posted in the attached screenshots which sounded good and didn't chatter. I was rather shocked to see the endmill so destroyed. I'm not remotely opposed to buying some good tooling like this, but I cant afford to kill $100 endmills figuring this part out. A $32 endmill was within the crash course budget. Looking at the mill, it obviously ran hot at the corners despite running in a bowl of coolant. So I know I need to get more heat into the chips instead of the tool.
A couple thoughts beyond solely stepping up to the 5/8 endmill were - #1 there are .75" holes that go all the way through this part on the same Z axis that I'm working on, so I could drill a hole to drop into and radial out in a morhped pattern with ~.75" DOC and ~.060" radial stepover. #2 was to switch over to a 5/8 rougher or 3/4 indexable end mill for hogging and just use the 5 flute 5/8 for finishing.
If anyone has any suggestions of what to try or what worked for them, I'm all ears! Thanks guys!