Cheap Chinese face mill?

I have no stainless, so maybe I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

The really hard part about understanding the feeds and speeds with inserts on my mill is that I don't have power feed yet. So I'm hand feeding. Impossible to know what my feed rate is. But I have a good feel of how the insert is handling the load and the sound.
 
I plan on building a power feed, I just haven't gotten there yet.
How could I figure out a depth of cut range from all this info?
 
How could I figure out a depth of cut range from all this info?
Unfortunately, that's not something you can calculate, it should be a piece of information given to you by the manufacturer. For a knock-off brand insert like this it's more of a guess and check method.

Top brands will have all the information on the back of the pack as well as on their website, but you do pay a premium for it. For example these Iscar inserts were like 15 bucks a pop but I have access to a lot more information.
IMG_20180126_182151.jpg
 
Hmm. I wouldn't called these cheaper inserts. $8 each.
I guess I just gotta mount it up and go for it and find out
 
Hmm. I wouldn't called these cheaper inserts. $8 each.
I guess I just gotta mount it up and go for it and find out
It's all relative, I know people who would tell you $15 an insert is cheap.
 
Lol. Certainly not me! Especially for a hobby!
 
oh... my... stars.... ! its wonderful... just wonderful.


i put it on my cheap chinese R8 arbor cause i forgot to get a good one when i orda ered the mill. but it doesnt matter. its just wonderful...

i had been making new vise jaws for English Hylo vise rebuild from some 4140, which was what spawned this whole face mill fiasco. i havent squared the second jaw yet, so, i threw it in the vise, took a few passes about 010-015 each time till it leveled out. there is play in a barring or shaft somewhere in the pulley head of my mill, when i have an interrupted cut, my mill is very noisy but usually quiets down once the cut is no longer interrupted. which is exactly what happened... infact, once all 3 teeth were engaged in the work the mill was actually quieter than running no load. seriously... if it werent for nice straw coloured chips flying all across my garage, i wouldnt have even known it was cutting! ohh man, i was so excited i was cranking that X handle laughing like a child.. hahaha.
once i was done with the cut, i ran the same test as i did on the cheap mill. after the last pass i lowered the quill just until the insert started rubbing the work, then hand cranked the drive to see how each insert contacts the work. with the old head, thats when i realized how far off each insert was. this mill, all three rub exactly the same amount. aaaaand thats when i chipped an insert cause my hand slipped and i nudged it in reverse, lol, and boop, off comes a little sliver of carbide. haha. good thing theres 3 more sides to each insert!

/happy boy!
 
Here's a pic
IMG_20180126_232544.jpg

The tool marks look much more significant than they actually are. This is 4140, so I was running at 600 rpm and by the end I was feeding pretty quick to see how the chips looked and how the mill handled. Back right is where I started. Much slower fees and much finer finish. and its zoomed in pretty close
 
Let’s come back to this, is there a way to adjust one tooth up a thou or so without grinding the insert?

You could shim the short ones.

I bought the highest rated face mill on Amazon and was getting extremely bad surface finishes due to what appeared to be significant variation in insert stick-out. I returned it rather than taking on another project. There's a good review of a ZCC face mill out there but I can't speak to it personally.
 
This is 4140, so I was running at 600 rpm and by the end I was feeding pretty quick to see how the chips looked and how the mill handled. Back right is where I started. Much slower fees and much finer finish. and its zoomed in pretty close

I turn my carbide at a much higher rate then 600 RPM I did some rough math and using my machinist manuals I came up with running my 3" face mill with 5 inserts over 1200 RPM at a fairly aggressive feed rate taking .006" cut. the finish was extremely smooth nearly mirror like and the chips stayed a light cobalt blue. I was only using brush applied cutting oil and when I set up the flood the surface became trully mirror like and the chips are clear with no heat signature at all.

Going from HSS to carbide I am learning to increase the cutter speed to the point HSS would melt.
 
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