CNC End Mill Snapper... :^(

Could it be cutting too deep? Can it be set to ramp the feed rate from virtually nil until it gets into the material?

-- Wally

Things are always clearer in the cold, post-upload light.

Can you post the file code?

4,300 sounds a bit slow for 1/16" can you get it around the 9,000 mark? Use a drop of paraffin as well. What's the -Z move? Try editing that to about -0.030

It may well pay off to replace the cutter with a sharpened way crayon until you feel your feet. Spindle off

If you find you do need anymore broken cutters I can post you a few [ kilo ] down -:)

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

Bloomin' heck - All that technology to replicate what I can do manually.

c

Yes Charles but Nigel can now do this with *PRECISION*

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

From: "Nigel Eaton"

I have the manual version :-(

What I find is some soft aluminium can clog the mill, which as it then no longer cuts.... TING.

A harder grade of aluminium, coolant / lubrication, and shallower cuts double the number but half the depth ) all seem to be partial solutions.

At least in manual mode with a 6mm ball nose cutter you have a chance to stop and clean the cutter if you feel it's clogging up ( sometimes..... ).

I have been using carbide cutters, I will be interested to hear from the group if aluminium is less sticky on other cutters, ( coated, HSS ) and if there is a really good lubricant / coolant for the job.

Jonathan

Barnes's theorem; for every foolproof device there is a fool greater than the proof.

To reply remove AT

How many flutes? I do mostly HE30 and HE15. The HE15 cuts a lot better than the HE30. 2 Flute slot drills seem to work better for me than end mills. I use HSS 8% cobalt. You will never get enough speed for 1/16 carbide. My mill has max on 4200 rpm.

Checked Dormer CD and got these figures

1/16 HSS 8% Cobalt 270 M/min Speed 54121 RPM F0.008

HSS

50m/min 9922 rpm F0.008

Could not find 1/16 carbide so checked speeds and feeds on

3mm Carbide slot drill. 2000 M/min 212207 RPM F 0.017

You need lots of coolant to stop the cutter gooing up, the alloy sticks like s*** to and blanket.

Try flood coolant and light depths of cut to get a feel.

Cheers

Lionel

Do I assume correctly that your feed rate is in inches per minute and you are using a 4 tooth cutter, if so your tooth load is on the light side. Dormer recommend 0.02mm per tooth or 0.0007" whereas you are using 0.0003" per tooth. Approx 1/2 the recommended feed, good place to start.

I've tried a few different spindle

Recommended spindle speed for uncoated HSS cutter in Ali

Hope this is helpful Dave "Industria, arte, prudentia"

In article , Nigel Eaton writes

Bad form to followup one's own post, but I wanted to thank all those who made suggestions.

The answer was rather simple. The mill has a wimpy little motor, and the cut taken, combined with the spindle speed, conspired to make the drive band slip. Cutter stops turning. PING!

Thanks again for the suggestions chaps.

just a suggestion, try using a mini mill (FC3) cutter insted of a standard endmill, the flutes are shorter so the cutter is less likely to break. i use normal water based cutting fluid at work on full flow, flooding the table and the swarf normaly "floats away" when maching 1.5mm slots 2mm deep in H30e Al at 3000 rpm spindle speed 25 inch per minuet feed

HTH

Tim

That's a bit fast isn't it? ;-)

Stephen.

Just had another check on the CD Stephen,

For C141 HSCo 1/16th figures come out as above. Yes does seem a bit high. Material FC1

Lionel

The Sherline motor/speed controller does a great job of powering the Taig mill.

Regards, Tony

Bloody sight cheaper just to it it wiv a ammer ;-)

Regards, Tony