Trochoidal Milling

[Patriot]

What are your opinions on trochoidal milling and do you use it? What about using it with inserted cutters?

 

I'm trying it out and it seems to work decent. I have not been using it enough to assess tool life on the inserted cutters yet.

 

I also can't figure out how to keep the cutter from the circular motions when it works its first pass around the outside of the stock. I have been using the original stock dimensions for my boundary.

 

Any suggestions or comments? Thanks Mastercammers

[Rstewart]

I use dynamic milling (constant engagment milling) Every single chance I can. Haven't used it that much with inserted cutters though. Check out the dynamic milling data sheet, there's a link somwhere round here if you search for it. Lots of good info to start with on there.

[jbreth]

I've use trocoidal milling in titanium quite a bit. One of the tricks to successfully milling titanium don't let the heat go into the work piece. So I when milling closed pockets. I will select the "Full Material" option. Works pretty well.

[AshM]

I use the trocoidal milling a bit recently using tip cutters in steel sheets and blocks. I have found that using tip cutters I can afford to let the cutter over engage the material alot more than I would if I am using end mills. I think that this is because the tips on most insert cutters only have a 9-10mm average flute length and therefore I only tend to be cutting 8mm or so deep (unlike when I use a carbide end mill when I try to use the entire flute as much as possible down to 40mm deep).

 

Anyway, for this reason I set the "adjustment stepover percentage" (I can't remember what its acually called on the screen - :-) ) to around 60-80% to limit loops in straight directions and let the tool get right into corners before looping starts. Just my opinion.

 

On this topic it would be great to have micro lift and increased back feedrate in loops on all of the trocoidal cuts - maybe X6?

 

Does anybody else think that all of the dynamic and trocoidal cuts make the machine sound like the lovechild of a chainsaw and an angry alarm clock?!?