Machining Titanium

[Philcott]

Hi guys,

 

I am looking for a good resource for machining titanium. I worked with a guy that had a booklet from Boeing with some great info in it. He left and took his book with him. Can you believe it?

 

I'm looking for speeds, feeds and nomenclature for different operation types.

 

If any of you have a resource you rely on could you steer me in the right direction for getting my hands on it?

 

Thanks,

 

Phil

[MACHINEMASTERG]

we have this book by ed Rossman called "Creating and maintaining a world class machine shop" ...and it has a whole lot about machining titanium

[ReDEyZZ]

There is some good info here

 

http://www.supraalloys.com/Machining_titanium.htm

 

hth

[mike561h]

Run Ti at 4 x 70= 280

280/cutter diam.= RPM

 

I run my Ti the same speeds and feeds has 17-4

stainless and with these calculations I can machine mucho parts with 1 cutter before changing out.

 

 

Works for insert cutter also.

 

3/4 dia. 4 insert Seco turbo cutter.

 

1500 rpm 8 imp .125 deepcuts.

 

Hey ma look no fires.

[MIL-TFP-41]

hmmmm...I run 17-4 (1" mitsubishi AJX cutter) at 1500 RPM, 93IPM, .04DOC & get 30~45 minutes of insert life....dunno if I can do that in Ti tho.

[Bruce Caulley]

There is Ti and then there is Ti. The commercially pure grades like Gr2 and 7 are pretty easy going. Gr5 6Al4V is harder and work hardening is a pita as well. I did a fair bit or R&D with Ti and can safely say that depending on the setup the "book" speeds mean nothing. In some cases they can't be met, but change a few things and bingo, suddenly it is possible to do five or six times the recommended surface speed for that tool and still achieve good tool life.

 

There is a wealth of info on the net about this. A few hours surfing might be better than a reference book anyway.

 

Bruce

[FP1]

Rough turning with Sandvik H13A carbide insert - 125 sfm, .008-.010 IPR, DOC .100-.125 always gave me good tool life. 175 sfm would burn up the insert real quick. 6Al4v

[TheePres]

Best resource is Hanita Vari-Mill

[SydwazShawn]

I found that the Duramill Whisper cuts gave better life than the Hanita Veri-mills in certain applications on titanium.

[OTOMMYO]

Depends what you are doing. We just ran some 6'x12'x1/2" titanium plates on our planer. HSS cutters work great for ripping a welding joint overlap and chanfer.

[Goldorak]

PhilCott the secret is rigidity !!!

 

the program that will run perfectly on one machine can be a real mess on an other !!!!

 

it's a little bit of trial & error to find the right settings

 

i always got incredible result with ceratizit inserts

that is 10x tougher that anything else that i tried

[Philcott]

Thanks for all the replys. You never know what piece of the puzzle will come into play the next time around.

 

Our mills were reaming a 2.5 inch deep hole and were having some problems with finish. I was asked my opinion and I found they were only leaving about .004 per side and I had them increase it to .015 per side and bingo bango the hole was a beautiful thing.

 

Phil

[Philcott]

Martin,

 

Is your shop on the south shore of La Fleuve and down river a bit?

 

I'll be in Quebec this August for three weeks and can hardly wait to see my old friends. I will be spending most of my time in Magog, where I was born and raised.

 

Phil

[mcpgmr]

I machine some of our flywheels and pressure plates out of ti 6AL4V. Using Robb Jaak solid carbide end mills I run 120 SFM and .002 IPT. Any thing below Ø.250 I use .0005 to .001 IPT. Drilling I use 120 SFM and .003-.004 IPT using 1 flute in my calculation. The trick is rigidity and getting as much material in one pass as you can. Multiple Z depth cuts can do more harm then good. If i'm roughing I leave .005 for a fin cut and it works out well. Definately change tools and inserts often and you will be successful. The stuff ain't cheap to machine but it ain't hard to machine either if you approach it right. Good Luck! HTH!

[Goldorak]

PhilCott , we are situated at St-Hubert on south shore of Montreal

 

and Magog is a butiful region of Quebec