Generic endmill vs A36 plate?

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Higgins909

Aluminum

Joined

Nov 19, 2018

• May 8, 2019

• #1

I'm just wondering if anyone knew what would happen. I'm wondering if a generic 1/2" 4 flute carbide endmill can work on A36 steel without breaking/wearing out. (Don't know if there is a coating) For a example, mill out a 4" wide pocket, .300" deep.

Thanks,
Higgins909

 

Generic Default

Aluminum

Joined

Jan 23, 2016

Location

Wilmington / Long Beach

• May 8, 2019

• #2

Yep it should be easy, it will take maybe 30 seconds in a VMC. The "crust" on hot rolled steel is abrasive and will contribute to most of the wear on your tool, but the steel under it will machine easily.

 

Gordon Heaton

Titanium

Joined

Feb 19, 2007

Location

St. George, Utah

• May 8, 2019

• #3

When pocketing, the captive chips cause most of the problems. Coolant if you have it, at minimum air-blast to remove chips. If you have the option and don't need shiny smooth sides, use a roughing endmill.

 

RC Mech

Stainless

Joined

Jul 21, 2014

Location

Ontario, Canada

• May 8, 2019

• #4

Breaking a 1/2" endmill on a simple A36 part requires doing something abnormal. The more pertinent question is why you'd use a 1/2" endmill to hog out a 4" wide pocket.

 

charlie gary

Stainless

Joined

Oct 4, 2009

Location

near Seattle, Washington, USA

• May 8, 2019

• #5

RC Mech said:

Breaking a 1/2" endmill on a simple A36 part requires doing something abnormal. The more pertinent question is why you'd use a 1/2" endmill to hog out a 4" wide pocket.

Click to expand...

Might be the biggest R8 collet he's got.

 

H

Higgins909

Aluminum

Joined

Nov 19, 2018

• May 8, 2019

• #6

I'm thinking about trying to create a random project if I can find any leftover material. Currently a part is being made out of the material and a few different cutters are being used and it sounds... bad. I watch a lot of youtube machining videos, but the noise in the videos doesn't capture the perspective of standing in front of the machine. We have tons of 1/2" endmills that are used but would most likely be good enough for my project. I'm trying to get more into machining. I'm more of a basic operator at the moment. I was inspired by a TitanCNC video to see how far I could push a 1/2" endmill with good results. I'm seeing 400-600 SFM and .002" IPT. Does that sound practical or do you think I could push it even more?

 

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lucky7

Titanium

Joined

Sep 6, 2008

Location

Canada

• May 8, 2019

• #7

Respectfully suggest buying Moltrecht's two volume set on Machine Shop Practice.

L7

 

RC Mech

Stainless

Joined

Jul 21, 2014

Location

Ontario, Canada

• May 9, 2019

• #8

charlie gary said:

Might be the biggest R8 collet he's got.

Click to expand...

That's just cruel.

 

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Dan from Oakland

Titanium

Joined

Sep 15, 2005

Location

Oakland, CA

• May 9, 2019

• #9

Get the chips out of the pocket ASAP. Recutting chips will destroy an endmill in short order- that crunchy noise you hear is chips being recut. If you don't have lots of coolant pressure- (pressure, not volume,) blow the chips out with an air blast. If you do that you will be 90% on the way to success.

 

M

Milland

Diamond

Joined

Jul 6, 2006

Location

Hillsboro, New Hampshire

• May 9, 2019

• #10

And ramp in at a shallow angle, don't plunge the tool to depth. Slow feedrate until you have enough clearance to start side cutting without "burying" the cutter, then a 20% stepover at fairly high spindle speed and reasonable feed. Watch the chips, they'll help you determine if the cut is good.

 

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DMF_TomB

Diamond

Joined

Dec 13, 2008

Location

Rochester, NY, USA

• May 9, 2019

• #11

Higgins909 said:

I'm just wondering if anyone knew what would happen. I'm wondering if a generic 1/2" 4 flute carbide endmill can work on A36 steel without breaking/wearing out. (Don't know if there is a coating) For a example, mill out a 4" wide pocket, .300" deep.

Thanks,
Higgins909

Click to expand...

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A36 steel is basically like 1018 steel. sure its got mill scale which is mildly abrasive.
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i suggest you record data and after you mill a few hundred tons you will have a better ideal what is possible
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most important factor is tool length sticking out then tool holder length. doesnt matter if milling 0.3" deep if you got end mill sticking out 2" that is your limiting factor which effects max sfpm, max depth and width of cut and max feed.
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rule of thumb if your increase tool sticking out from 1 to 2" it will flex 2x2x2 or 8 times more. if it sticks out 3" its 3x3x3 or 27 times more flex or bending

 

Jaxian

Stainless

Joined

Feb 24, 2013

Location

Santa Cruz

• May 9, 2019

• #12

Be aware in the Titan video he is using a really expensive Kennametal Harvi 3 endmill. Not generic average cheap endmill. Also he is using a new DMG Mori and hydraulic holder which are very rigid. You will not get the same results probably.

 

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DMF_TomB

Diamond

Joined

Dec 13, 2008

Location

Rochester, NY, USA

• May 10, 2019

• #13

many machining jobs if it takes even 5 minutes longer to machine it and it saves scrapping a part cause of sudden tool failure its usually much faster than remaking the part.
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you often have a choice try to save 1 hour a day going faster and possible spending 2 to 10 hours remaking parts or go a little slower and have 99.9999% reliability. its like you can drive 55mph down the highway and get to where you are going or you can try 110mph and end up crashing your car 2% of your road trips. even 1% failure rate can end being extremely expensive. unless you track machining jobs and recorded above average times and causes. you often dont see the expense of 1 or 2% failure rate til you figure all the jobs done per year