Feeds and Speeds for Beryllium Copper

[Smit]

Hi all,

We are starting to work with some beryllium copper in our shop, and are pretty inexperienced with machining of this material. If somebody with experience could suggest speeds and feeds for drilling and tapping, with both carbide and high speed drills, I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance,

Smit

[McRae]

quote:

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beryllium copper in our shop, and are pretty inexperienced with machining of this material.

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Camealeon has had the privalege of working with this toxic material - he should have some input!

[mold100]

I like this stuff I would like to include it in my niche, most BeCu todays is less than 2% Berylium and moldmax xl is close to zero.Cutting

end milling and profiling not bad better than steel ,drilling is tougher start with your biggest dia. first dont step drill it likes to grab use coated tools as much as possible it is gummy and abrasive as you will find out.I also like to EDM it.I find most people outsource it but I like to work with it.I have a fair amount of experience with it.

[Surface]

Andrew is correct, if overheated, it will give off a toxic gas. Don't cut this material with inserted cutters or abrasive cut-off saws.

Mold100 is correct as well as to its abrasiveness. Coated tools make a big difference. HSS will break down pretty fast unless coated. Rollform taps work well with this material as well. Carbide endmills and jewlers saws work well. I didn't have much luck with carbide drills, because my holes were small (2-56 x .500 deep)I find HSS cutters tend to be sharper than carbide. I didn't experience the need for lower rake tools, but it can be sort of grabby.

Good luck

[MACHINEMASTERG]

quote:

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beryllium copper in our shop, and are pretty inexperienced with machining of this material.

---

what ?? andrew !!!he dosnt have much experiance with this stuff dont you think he should farm this out to someone who does and go back to working on things he is used to !!!

[Jammer™]

Cutting speeds in Feet per minute (FPM)

 

Drilling: (hss) 60-65

Reaming: (hss) 50-60 (carbide) 180-200

Milling: (hss) 100-110 (carbide) 200-225

Turning: (hss) 100-110 (carbide) 200-225

 

Like metioned above, use coated tooling if possible.

[steve99]

It's not just the toxic gas but the dust can get you, too. If you don't have experience with this material, speeds and feeds are the least of your worries. I would advise you to read up on berylliosis...not very common, but very serious!

[steve f]

I'm with Steve P. on this one.

 

We are currently considering some work on BeCu and our employing company is fitting us with face masks and setting up procedures to follow when working with this stuff such as using one set of clothing for work and sealing all doors and ventilation to the machine shop to keep the dust from floating around. My advice is get MSDS information sheets at the least and do some research before cutting anything (if it's not too late!). To give some perspective the compound nickel will stain skin and is known to cause dermititis...BeCu is one thousand times more toxic than nickel, so it's nothing to fool around with.

[iowajim62]

Hi all,

 

I recommend staying away from this stuff as well.

I personally know of 3 deaths from becu poisoning

at Hughes Aircraft Co. in LA. This stuff is the lamest Chemistry invention as far as Metal goes.

The story about different clothes and ventilation are not convincing enough for me, no way would I work there or anywhere else they plan on running that stuff.

 

JM2C

[TheePres]

Please read MSDS on this stuff before continuing to work on it. I have worked with often, but mostly bushings on lathe..so no feeds/speeds recommendations here.

BTW....Berrylium is listed in Guiness Book as most toxic substance in the world.

[Jack Mitchell]

You guys are really starting to scare me!

 

I have machined a bit of this stuff, in fact I had a set of golf clubs made from it as well.

 

I had no idea whatsoever that it is considered toxic or dangerous.

 

Regards, Jack

[Greg Williams]

Guys,

 

This is bad stuff, Use somthing else if possible!

 

just ask anyone who ground some of the excessive bounce of there Ping Sand iron (Golf Clubs) a few years back. I remember reading of a guys who dyed from doing this!

[Guy Arseneault]

Where I work we use Ampco 18 (Copper and Brass Sales in Collingdale,PA tel# 610-586-1800) in place of beryllium copper.

 

HTH

[mold100]

AMPCO is not the same it is hard and brittle and not the same properties.It is more like a copper

P-20 tool steel, I have seen people use it for gibs.

 

when people use BecU it is mainly because of heat

dissipation. If someone has it and doesnt want to work with it give me a call, Like I said I dont mind working with it there are precautions

that should be used 90% common sense dont go out of your way to breath it in.Also I have heard it

ruins your machine coolant by contamination,It just wouldnt be wise to braeth in coolant mist and steam when you cut it in anyway a chemical change does take place but I also do know if beryllium is still produced in the way it was 5 or 10 years ago, Most BeCu companies today use a small amount of Be. There is a guy here in Erie with Be Poisioning he ran an EDM dept here for years.

[steve99]

I had the pleasure of replacing a couple of machine tools a few years ago. Those two machines were contaminated with Be. Once that happens, you can't even give them away.

 

Respirators are fine but the problem is that Be dust can be dislodged with an air gun long after the machining is done.

[Kevin Goddard]

The December 2002 edition of Cutting Tool Engineering has an interesting article about Be and BeCu. It has some machining parameters and safety issues. Looks informative. HTH

[McRae]

quote:

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what ?? andrew !!!he dosnt have much experiance with this stuff dont you think he should farm this out to someone who does and go back to working on things he is used to !!!

---

Nice... The contrast to our earlier discussion is that he is and has shown a willingnes to develop the processes to become competittive.

 

Long term, I think I will get voted off this damn forum! - Unless the French excercise their Veto Rights.

 

[ 03-14-2003, 08:32 AM: Message edited by: Andrew McRae ]

[Smit]

Thanks for the replies, and the lively discussion. We are aware of the hazards of working with this material, and in the long run the engineers will attempt to redesign the molds to use a different material. But to not machine these parts isn't an option. The material we use is 2% or less beryllium. We aren't equipped to grind this material safely, so any grinding that needs to be done will be outsourced to shops that are equipped. My understanding is that the main danger lies in breathing very small (.00005 dia) particles. Still, we will be taking appropriate precautions.

[CAM-mando]

Hey Guy,

 

Where you from ?

 

Im a stones throw from Collingdale PA.

[Noel]

Good day all

Having read all of the replies to this post I just realized that I should be dead.As I have been working with Beryllium Copper for the last 20+ years.About ten years ago we had the minestry of health and saftey in once a year to moniter the air quality specific to BeCu in our grinding,polishing,and machining opperations and all were well below acceptable levels.However I realize that government agencies are not always as woried about the health of the worker as they are about keeping big business happy.I think as long as you use flood cooling the dust is pretty much kept in check and the use of extractors will take care of any gasses present.Alot of our American costumers will not allow tyhe use of BeCu in our molds.we have found that ampco 90 is a very good alternative. As far as machining BeCu I have found it to be a dream to work with.However drilling can be fun.Sharpening one cutting edge slightly off center will help keep your drill from grabbing.If hole size is critical this may not help as you will get a slightly large hole diameter.Milling with carbide I use 300-350 SFM with a slightly lower feed rate than I would use for tool steel.Tapping can also be fun we have found that using a 3 flute left hand spiral right hand cut tap from Greenfield works great.Any way just thogh I'd add my two cents worth(wich in Canada is about 1.28 cents worth at the current exchange rate.)

Thanks

 

[ 03-23-2003, 10:22 AM: Message edited by: noel sevigny ]