hi if i calculated this right my MMR X FEED TIME= 13.4/part how screwed up is this? or normal? and the tool dies in 7 pcs so does that make it 93.75? is this bad? what average?

heyy.. .sorry for the late reply i was out of town in the weekend.. really sorry... 220 cubes? ok! to be honest i do not know how much my tool cuts before extermination. u got the formula to calculate it or i look it up? we are running production no prototyping. and i can't decide what type of tools is purchased here either... unfortunately. i'll look up the formula and let you konw the how many cubes my tool eats before dying... we actually got a mitsubishi insert tool! it ran good at the beginning and i set a counter for 20 parts change.. so it ran good for 2 days.. then on day 3 inserts broke and holder burned and the counter wasn't even 12! and when i say i put the counter to 20, trust me the tool could make more and it was in good shape at 20 count. but for safety i put 20 anyways... however, out of nowhere... 12!! no accident, no part pulled out to cause damage.. nothing.

quote: Can anyone offer an idea as far as cubic inches of material removal would be considered "good" before the endmill starts to fail? hence i was asking for help i don't think you should take what i say in consideration. but i do not think there is a specific value answer to your question or even something close. this is my opinion and i'm happy to learn that i'm wrong as it would mean i learned something new from the experienced guys here again. but there are just sooo many factors to consider that affect the tool life. Holder, overhang, machine rigidity, coolant concentration + the type of operation you do. I'm starting to believe there is no such thing as a formula for feeds and speeds at all. All there is in books is a feed and speed starting point... thats only where you start then based on your jugdement and experience.. you improve it.. or like me screw it up. lol.. good luck. Is cold rolled S.S. more nasty to cut? have a good day guys

aye.. i did the test and it went all good and nice.. chips color seemed good.. the machine's humming as well was no so bad... no sparks .. but hardly any improvement on the tool life! which was disappointing and i do not understand why! anyhow.. all help was really appreciated guys... as a matter of fact it could be normal for the tool to live this short when cutting stainless! i wouldn't know, all previous experience was aluminum and brass.. but i still find it hard to believe this should be normal... i mean if the part was mild steel or so i think the tool would have lived 5 x the life of it when cutting S.S. if not longer even good night guys... it was a long annoying day am sooooo expecting to dream about this even tonight..

Thank you

yes they are carbide coated and i requested SFM and specs for the tools but for 2 days now i got nothing. The tool needs to be changed 2 to 3 times a day so far but i didn't get to use the data i got from you guys yesterday... i should be doing that today as soon as i get to work. now tell me something.. is it better to cut steel and stainless steel dry? or with coolant? peace

hi again guys... unfortunately i can't get my hands on hanita varimills or fraisa... i know for sure that those are higher end tools but as they cost more, they won't buy them here. So am stuck using lower end coated mills... unfortunately. i did my first test on mild steel as in keeping the feed up and only cutting my rpm.. i liked the result.. even the sound of the cut was nice and smooth so far.. so tomorrow... i'm biting some stainless.. by the way, if i'm going 4500rpm while cutting with a 1/2 AlTiN coated Em... does that mean i should run at about 8500rpm when cutting with a 1/4EM coated? won't that be much? and is there another type of tool coating that would give better result than AlTiN for Stainless cutting?

thanks alot guys.. i don't care if all this is actually going to work or not.. i'll try and i hope it does.. but even if it doesn't.. still thanks alotttttt for all the help.. am going to test whatever you gave me today hopefully.. thanks again.. peace

thanks alot... do not worry about gouging at corners i relief those to be sure of a consistant cut... what about ramping and helix cut depth and feed? i noticed my tool die the most when there is some sort of material removing while going on z axis such as ramping... i feel really annoying asking for all this help.. anything would be appreciated guys.. thanks alot already for all

AIR GUN.. yes the machine is equipped with one... thanks.

my tool is 4 flutes by the way...

thanks jaz, i'll surely try that out. dry? but wouldn't this kill my tool faster hence the load per tooth increased almost to double? or is the main tool death reason with S.S. is the heat so reducing the rpm helps? just trying to grasp the concept!?

I used that before ted thanks... i deviated from it because it was too slow... this is the formula then i guess? either slow and longer tool life, or faster and much shorter life?

small cuts as in .04 x .5 deep... profiling all around.. no coolant.. for the 1/2. the chips comes out yellow...

hi guys.. anyone familiar with S.S? i got few question here this drove me up the wall... first, for S.S 304, 316 AlTiN coating or TiCN? I have AlTiN coated tools.. someone suggested i go high feed and small cuts.. and it runs nice.. but the tool life is horrible. am talking 8500RPM for a 1/2EM and cutting feed of 110in/m. DRY. tool does not live long at all its costing us a fortune.. what should be the proper alternative? or is it normal for the tool to die fast when cutting stainless steel? am not familiar... any suggestions is welcome please... thx.

hi man.. its HASP restricted... you probably have lvl1 ... so ur limited to what you can use although you see surface rough and finish in the menue, if you press it you'll be asked to contact captech to upgrade ur mastercam... if ur jumping from lvl1 to lvl3... thats going to cost you about **** or so i was told.. peace Post edited to remove pricing data.. [ 05-13-2009, 07:43 AM: Message edited by: gcode ]

ok thanks alot.. i'll try to get to the ftp site.. never used that before.. i appreciate it man.. thanks alot.

mchin pilot.. thx i'll try that as well.. sounds simple and can give me a rough idea.. thx

hi am using parallel surface finish and rough... the part is very wavy, no flats... i have no clue how to describe it... just wavy and not a consistent wave either... sorry donno how to explain it better. the part is practically 1 x 7.5 long by 3 wide.. its taking around 3 hours in the machine.. i was just trying to improve the timing.. thanks for the help guys.. i guess i have to experiment.. peace

hi guys.. a quick question and any input is greatly appreciated as usual.. am making a mold.. using a sphere or (ball mill). does anyone know what ideal % of tool diameter should i overlap to have a neat finish. i know the smaller the better... but i don't want the part to take forever inside the machine as well.. i am using a 1/8sphr mill and my overlap is .0012.. the finish is beautiful.. but i was wondering how much can i increase the overlap without starting to have (bumpy) surface... is there a certain percentage of the tool dia? any clue? thx guys..

man.... wow.. thanks.. i feeel so ignorant i didn't even know i could do that it will help in other stuff as well.. really thanks alot peace thank you

hey guys.. a quick question please. how do i change the default in MCX3 for the contour parameter where, for some weird reason, tip comp is set to the center of the tool instead of the tip!!! this used to be tip all the time but in MCX3 its default is center!!!! makes me wonder if anyone else had this problem or was i the only victim? peace

hi i create folders in fact and separate the folders names based on what it contains.. PDF FILES, PROE, MC FILES, NC FILES (IF YOU SAVE THOSE).. and so on. peace

wow i like this keyboard.. thanks man.

ok ok.. i see that the space pilot is too famous lol.. you see guys i would understand its use MAYBE when designing... thats a personal point of you. but me in programming with MCX2 I USE shortcut keys meaning i don't go and click create line from the mini icons or the drop down menue... this is why i was sooo hesitant in using MCX when it came out... because they wiped out all the shortcut keys... so i made my own legend of shortcut keys but even then its dumb the way it has to be used where i always have to be holding ALT, SHIFT, OR CONTROL... OR A combination of them. which is getting on my nerves but i'm someone fine with it.. so thats when i got the idea of using a mouse that has smart keys that i can assign each one of those to be ALT, SHIFT, CTRL. this way i can always access my shortcut keys easier and faster. THIS is ALSO why the pilot nav is no good for me.. becuase my left hand 'hence i'm right handed' i need to keep on the keyboard when i'm working.. i found it very annoying to use the pilot navigator.. lol..and very stresssssssful. my God does it make the part spin on me.. lol.. thanks alot guys..