A while back I posted about a little part that required milling some 46-
49Rc stainless steel. I programmed it and set it up last week and it ran just fine. I ended up getting the key cutters from Harvey Tool. They were an "off the shelf" item from them.
I ended up starting at 200 SFM for most of the milling. The consensus was that was probably a little high but I figured I could always change the end mills and slow it down if things started to melt. So far it looks like I might be able to kick it up a little if anything. I ended up using a high end cutting oil for coolant. I think that in this case the oil helps as it keeps the end mills and inserts from thermo-cycling.
I'll post some more info after the competition has a chance to flounder and fail. I'm using some brand new milling tools (some are actually prototypes) from a company that's been around for a while but hasn't been on the cutting edge in recent years. It looks like things are changing for them. These new tools kick ass for milling on a lathe. No chatter at all. And I'm getting after it pretty hard.
Thanks for the advice.