Indexable Face Mill Troubles

springer

springer

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so i bought this cutter from Shars and some inserts from eBay and have had absolutely no success at all with it. I've tried all different feeds and speeds as well as DOC. The surface finish is disgusting and when cutting it sounds like I am beating my machine with a 2lb siege hammer. What is wrong? What am I missing? My Tormach superfly cutter handles speed, feed and DOC 10x better than this.

Do I have the wrong inserts? Is the Shars cutter a prime example of "you get what you pay for"? It seems solid and if the geometry is correct, shouldn't it work like a high dollar part? I was so excited to finally get a face mill to hog out some chips and all I got was a pit in my stomach from the thought of all the money I just potentially wasted.

cutter:
http://www.shars.com/products/index...g/2-45-degree-end-mill-r8-shank-seht-insert-1

inserts:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-Korlo...rbide-inserts-CNC-lathe-Milling-/280778445770
 
Just a guess, those multiple insert cutters seem to run best when more than one insert is engaged in the work. If one cutter leaves the work before the next one engages, there is a bounce introduced which will destroy finish.

You can avoid this by cutting on one side of the cutter, not down the middle.
 
The inserts look ok. But the face mill is to large for the part in the vise. Try it on something closer to 2" I have a 2" and if I try to cut anything less than 1 1/2" it will beat it to death.
 
Also double check the insert pockets on the holder and verify that there are no burrs.
You might have one insert that isn't seating properly.
 
The insert you are using is a wiper style insert, that wipes as you cut. If your machine is rigid enough to use, its not a problem. On lighter built machines, or the setup is not solid, it will leave the finish as shown. Try to find an insert that has a corner radius, 1/64" or 1/32" instead of flat as these inserts do. I know that's going to be hard to do, because of the popularity of this insert. This insert is made to feed fast with high RPM's, too. That's the reason for the wiper action of the insert. Don't be afraid to fast feed! Last, try leaving about .005" for a cleanup pass and see if that helps.

Ken
 
Welp, leaning towards your theory of blaming the insert. I put one of these in my tormach super fly cutter and had similar results as the face mill. Loud banging with bad surface finish. Put my regular insert back in the tormach and it worked fine. Gonna find some different inserts and go from there.

I also tried and checked everything else mentioned with no improvement.

Thanks for all the help.
 
can anybody point me to the right insert for this. shars says it works with SEHT / SEHW / SEHX inserts and on carbidedepot.com, they all show to have wiper flats. not sure what to get
 
Try a SEET type of insert as one choice. There are mainly for aluminum and heat resistant alloys, but sometime work well on steel, too!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-x-Millin...634163?hash=item2359464a73:g:-VAAAOxycgVThvCl

The SEH desination is probably a heavily honed edge, which for steel is the right choice. But on a light duty machine as the Tormach or Bridgeport mill, will chatter as you have mentioned.

There are a couple of more designations, i just have to find them.

EDIT: just found the other designation. It's SEKT. Here's listing of an insert that may better.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-In-Box-...049423?hash=item43ddfb66cf:g:C~gAAOSw~OdVdX4b
 
thanks for the help 4gsr, i was looking at those, but don't they have a wiper flat as well??
 
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