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- Nov 24, 2013
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- 1,791
You might consider some hss over carbide f you want to lower the rpms some
You might consider some hss over carbide f you want to lower the rpms some
It's something I have thought about many times for my self. I dont like more rpm then I need. So on a lathe if the part is real small I may use hss just to keep the rpms lower. On a mill if the cutter is small I might want it to be hss for the same reason. I love my index tooling but I dont care to run my little lathe at 2k if I dont have to ahahaha
The statement "2 flute end mills are for aluminum, 4 flute for steel" isn't quite correct, as I use them interchangeably, and for most hobby work, they can be. They are used that way industrially because you can take a much greater cut per flute with 2 flute end mills cutting aluminum, which can fill up a 4 flutes open area, clogging the mill and causing problems. And the cutting speed (for a given cut depth/flute) is twice as fast for a 4 flute (and 3 times as fast for a 6 flute) end mill, so when the chip buildup isn't a problem (cutting steel) you can run at higher feed rates and reduce cycle time. Of course, without a power feed, actually feeding slow enough to use a 2 flute end mill in steel can be a problem. As others have already stated, your cutting speed is way too high. You can just google speed and feed and it will pull up some calculators to get the speed. To get the feed, you will need to know how much cut per flute you want to go, which varies with the size end mill, material you are cutting, and rigidity, but I would probably start with .0015 to .002 for that 5/8 cutter.