Speeds and feeds

[Mr.ZX]

Hey all can any one help me understand the feed and RPM calculations in MC? I usualy calculate my own rpm and feed rates, because I do not like the stuff MC spits out.

[Guest]

The "stuff" in mastercam is made to be customized.

 

You can set librairies that store and use the information you have calculated

 

You can use material to calculate your speeds and feeds or define your tool.

[Mr.ZX]

I know that, but it seems like a total pain in the butt to customize the files. Any quick accurate way to do it. This has always been an issue with me with MC. Why shouldn't they be set pretty good from the onset, why do we have to customize. I have been using MC for over five years, and always do my own calculations because I never liked the RPM and feeds produced.

[spade117]

If you set them 5 years ago, don't you think you would have saved some time by now?

[mcpgmr]

I use the MC speeds and feeds from material all the time and they are a great place to start. I don't trust tapping, reaming or facing much so I calculate those myself. The base SFM and Chip load are from the rhe machinist handbook so like I said it's a good place to start. I let them optimise on the floor then feed the info back to me and I update it in MC so if I have to post for another controller the prove out is more streamlined. JM2C's

[Hymen]

If you set them 5 years ago, don't you think you would have saved some time by now?

 

HEHE

[Sambo]

ZX, I agree with you, most of Mastercams speeds and feeds seem pretty conservative at times. Whereas tapping speeds and feeds look silly fast. I have seen that defining your tooling better helps alot. I suppose some of the people here are allowed the time to do it right, meaning all from within mastercam. For me, I am expected to breath out programs like air. I don't have the luxury of time to update my material library. And forget about getting reliable feedback from the floor, we have middleschool dropouts convinced that they're master machinists setting up jobs with four or five tools with the worst case of "f###with-itus."

 

Wow, where'd that come from? Oh yeah it's Monday.

 

Maybe (a long-shot) someone here wouldn't mind sharing one they've tweaked. But I'd guess thats the same as posts. Could call your reseller, or even the machine company, most of them have mastercam.

 

Anyhow, imho I like to have more than just one source for speeds and feeds. So check this out. Middle of the page is a free feed and speed calculator. Not the best but, it keeps some of the guys off my back.

[Guest]

Sharing tool libraries is not a big deal but mine is defined by the tool for specific tools

 

Saving tools to a library does not take long at all and before you know it you have built a library 1 tool at a time.

 

When you program a job and you have the tool defined the way you want it, save the thing, it'll be there the next time you need to use it.

 

If you can handle 200+ IPM feedrates and speed of 14k, use Destiny tools I'll send it over but you really are better off customizing to what YOU do.

 

Just an addon, if you guys can not make a "few" minutes here and there to help you do your job right, it will never get any easier for you. I work in as a high a pressure environment as probably any of you of do, multiple programs a day many of which hit the machine within minutes or hours of completion, the design, and other daily tasks and I have time to tweak my posts, build my libraries and peek in here multiple times a day. It hurt when I first started the setup of my seat, now it has paid in dividends. Do not overlook the time saving that will be realized by spending just a couple of minutes at a time to do the things that need doing. Take some of it home if you have to, I do, regularly. What you accomplish will only help you to do your job better AND look good doing it.

 

That usually leads to more money and greater opportunity.

 

Just some food for thought

 

[ 01-08-2007, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: John Paris @ CDES ]

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

Another approach is to set up a tool library with the proper speeds and feeds and set Mastercam to use "from tool".

 

If you don't use many materials this can work well. My libraries were set up this way long ago and I haven't found a good enough reason to change yet.

[Lloyd]

Hi All,

 

This is a timely thread for me. I've just upgraded to X2 and that has me back in mastercam a bit more again. I've always wanted to set up custom tool and material libraries for us to use but keep feeling overwhelmed by the scope of it, or at least my perception of the size of the task.

 

We are a small job shop with no real set product line. So, what would then be the most efficient approach?

 

For example, lets take a 1/2" 4 flute carbide endmill. That same tool will have to cut C1018, 4140HTSR, Aluminum, UHMW, etc, at some point. So setting the speed and feed of the tool would only be correct 1/4 the time or less. Does that mean I would have to save a tool for each time of material we come across?

[Guest]

Or you could save different tool libraries.

 

I have a tool library for aluminum, stainless steel, copper, brass/bronze and a couple of others, they contain some of the same tools but each tool in each library is set for that material.

 

In a shop with many different types of materials, setting up by material type might be a better way to go.

[GVM]

In another thread someone recommended this site http://www.eapprentice.net/ They have some good lessons that cover working with the tool and material libraries.

[Tim Johnson]

+1 John,

 

I'm guessing (I'm at home) I have 5~7 sets of 1/4" four flute carbide end mills in my 304 sst library alone. After four years or so I have a pretty decent library and am still adding tools and updating them as new technology grows or situations dictate. It sounds like a lot of work but you have to put in the speeds/feeds/doc anyway so why not save them and the next time all you have to is click the tool and you're done. After you dial them in you'll also find that the programs are getting more consistant and the operators (master machinists) are slowing down their bitchin.

[Lloyd]

Thanks,

 

Now that I have figured out how to keep the tool libraries on the server instead of just the local machine it makes the time to set up the libraries more worth while.

 

Also, thanks Gary, for the link to the lessons, they seem pretty good, I look forward to learning a lot.

[Storkman]

Creating material and tool libraries are a PITA. But all data input is. Once it is done, it is a major time saver though.

[Zbuilder]

Isn't the material libray used to make offset calculations from the default speeds & feeds for that particular material? If so then only one inch & one metric tool library is needed. Is this correct? or is it easier to just ignore the material library & create multiple tool libraries as others have done? I haven't done any yet & am wondering which is the best route.

[3R!< W3NG3R]

+1 John

 

Creating a tool library for each type of material is the easiest way to go when doing one tool at a time. When you do a job and the s & f are good, then just save the tools to the correct library. All the work is already done.

 

Setting up the material library might be better (don't know myself) but that would take a lot of time I would think.

[Storkman]

I use a material library. You set a base sfm and set each type of tool to a percentage of that. Say you use 100 sfm and .005 chip for the base. You might want to set an indexable to 600% for sfm and 300% for chip load. Then when you hit calculate you will get 600 sfm and .015 chip for that cutter. Works pretty sweet when it is all done. Make sure you define your tool with the proper diameter and number of flutes.

[Tim Johnson]

I'm about to start editing my higher rpm tool libraries to use a material library file. The material library files themselves are far too generic for my use. What I'm planning to do is set everything at 100%, all speeds at 1000 sfm, feeds at .010 fpt and call that my "ALL MATERIALS" file. Then in my current tool files I'm going to set %mat cutting speed/%mat feed per tooth to the appropriate %'s needed for each tool's situation. When I first started my tool libraries my maximum rpm was 10000. Right now my max is 15000 rpm and who knows what the next machines will have, so by using the material library file I should be able to reduce my tool library editing to the actual tool's evolution and not the machine's.

[Bruce Caulley]

I tried to setup material libraries to save time with speed and feed calculations, but could never get it to work properly. The formula for the calculations doesn't look anything like what I use for metric calculations.

 

Bruce

[Greg Williams]

+1 on Bruce metric is skewif

[Storkman]

I agree Tim. I don't use the materials that came in the library. I created my own. I have never tried them with metric calculations Bruce, but what you say makes sense.

[jeff]

I just have 2 different tool libraries, one for all of the different types of steel that I use, and one for aluminum.

Of course I create all kinds of different tools for different situations, but it's easier for me to just click on a tool and have the S/F's already there.

Besides, it only takes about a minute to create a tool.

[tooljockey]

Tool librarys have always been a continuing work in progress for me. I currently have about a dozen librarys consisting of hard steel tools for a Hurco, hard steel tools for a Makino, soft steel tools, graphite tools, etc.-etc.

 

I don't spend alot of time creating new tools with my current librarys, I can always find what I need depending on which machine/material I am programming for.

 

I never,ever use material librarys!!