The step over is not constant allowing for morphing spirals were we account for chip thinning throughout the entire tool path. Look for the feed changes.
To all you doubters, this is steel and it's not a con, I had a live demo of this software, cutting a very similar part to this, no coolant in a standard mould making steel. I was so impressed we now use this solidcam with imaching and 3D imachining exclusively. There is nothing I am aware of quite like it.
Its called trochoidal milling. Using large or full depth of cut, but with small radial step-over. Pretty much the definition of high speed machining. Can save time and uses your tool a lot more efficiently. Though in this video im not sure if steel is being cut. At these speeds, your chips would at least turn straw-colored, but these chips are staying silver like aluminum would. If im wrong and it is steel, thats pretty damn impressive! Thumbs up to whoever wrote the program. By the way, its usually more ideal to use an air blast as opposed to coolant when cutting steel.. coolant can shock and fracture carbide tools if theres a lot of variance in temperature.
Lots of interesting comments, but many of you insist this is Aluminum. It is in fact steel being cut at high rpm and feed rate programmed in SolidCAM using their iMachining function.
This tool path offers consistent engagement and less radial depth allowing it to cut considerably faster. And the tool incorporates the latest in cutting technology.
thanks for the numbers....I don't often get the chance to make deep cuts in steel with tools that small but I'd love to experiment one of these days....
IMachining is SolidCAM's competitive answer to MasterCam's Dynamic High Speed toolpaths. I happen to use MC and buzz through D2 tool steel faster than what's shown here.
@ydna2 Deep cuts with small tools is not easy. Synchronization between all cutting parameters must be maintain throughout the entire cut. You can find other videos of deep depths of cut with 1/2” or 12mm tools but with small tools they are much easier to break, one miscalculation that causes a brief overloading of the tool and they break.
That ain't stainless. I don't know what the method is called in English, but the principle is to have a constant pressure on the tool when cutting, and working with low radial engagement. It's faster than traditional milling methods and wear less on the tool due to the soft "break-ins". I can do this every day with my Mori Seki 5-axis and Mastercam cadcam.
Trochoidal milling basically, but you can't do this with MasterCAM, you have to give it inputs yourself, whereas SolidCAM iMachining will just ask what material, what end mill and how aggressive you want to cut and calculates all the speeds & feeds automatically to keep a constant chip load & high speed.
You can get a 30 evaluation version of the software at solidcam.com The Eval version does let you produce G code, and the software comes with post processors for more popular machines.
Can you give some information? Spindle Speed, how big are the tools we are looking at? What grade of steel? Feed rates? How is the steel fixtured? What other steps are there to finish the part?
@ydna2 I did not cut the part but I got the part file and turns out the part is pretty small. The round stock is 95mm / 3.737" diameter. Here is the data for the 4mm tool 4mm diameter, 9.8mm deep, 16000RPM, 2000-14000mm per minute, .030-1.2mm step over .157” diameter, .386” deep, 16000RPM, 78-551” per minute .0118-.0472” step over
That's not the mill's table we are seeing. It is a fixture most likely made for this job. I can see it is made from Blanchard ground plate. The mill table would most likely be a scraped surface with t-slots.
+Logan Newman That's a SolidCAM toolpath. It basically tries to keep the chip load the same, so you don't get any squeaks from the tool and thus your tool life is high.
+jacksonlefteye We understand, 5 years ago we worked on this idea and wanted to be noticed. Actually we needed to be noticed so we could recoup our development costs. As time goes on and the technology speaks for itself the name seems unnecessary but internally we have to remember we were trying to be noticed, also any publicity can be good publicity so 5 years later we still have controversy maybe a good thing :)
I am not allowed to process operations at my employer, as this piece is being machined. It is frustrating to machine a piece similar to this one, with Z depth steps, thus wearing the cutter corner extremely fast. "It is rough on the machine!" Give me a break. I`d like to try a demo version of this software.
any one who explain what is benefits of this processing CNC?? i think Die-Casting or pressing processing could be more productive... and cheaper than this
yes it is steel something like A50 my concern indeed, when I worked on mill, around early 80's this job could take many many hours the roughing itself :-) and I don't have no idea how many hour fileing.. or making a copper chunk for the sinkedm.. time is just changed so much
Money is made or lost in the roughing operation, there is no shortcuts in finishing. iMachining hits to that sweet area of where the money is and that is why their videos are usually only of roughing.
+skyhacker6 Cast metals have very different properties than rolled or forged metals. Castings tend to be very granular and weaker, but are more ductile. Rolled tend to be less ductile but greater compression strength. Also, casting steel can be tricky. It is actually cheaper, faster, and "greener" to mill away all this material than to try and cast it and mill to final dimension. Keep in mind that the shavings are recycled in all but the smallest shops, and a small shop would not have this machine.
Certainly does, I'm in the process of high speed milling a trepan in some 4340 on a lathe using dynamic motion or trochoidal machining with a half inch carbide end mill with mastercam, will post a video soon if you're interested.
Really? All that machining for that? Come on ask any old school machinist and they would have used a 1/2 carb. To ruff out most of that noise , than finished it with the 1/4 finisher! Please !
+Daniel Lilienberg I vote for 1018 also. Surface finish on top at beginning is poor. It's held rigidly by bolts, and you can almost feel the force of the cuts even with low tool engagement. Surfcam uses Truemill for an approximate 70 degrees of controlled tool engagement. Nice holders, too.
I don't think this is aluminium, I ran a CNC machining aluminium every day for 3 years. I thought it was at first but look at the chips they look different and they are changing colour. Aluminium won't do this. That said its not very hard material...
+BrownSugarSon Absolutely dont see. White metal, no heating, no sparks, no smoke, no liquid cooling, tool from hss with NiT coating not from tungsten carbide. This tool will burn and broke at this speed on steel. This material is aluminum, or, more possibly, magnesium
@ 4:05 in the video you see sparks. Aluminum doesn't spark. The chips also show discoloration from heat, aain, which aluminum doesn't do. This is 16MnCr5 steel, basic mold stuff.
Randy, your obviously impaired in some way.... the video is not showing the best strategy for the part, but rather the capability of the cutters and software....Please what?
