milling question

P

PraNuity

Joint Protectors
I am using a 1/32 end mill to cut a slot in a fiber tube for a veneer. I don't have a cnc or a power feed, so it's all manual. Because the mill is so small, I really can't get a feel for it and I'm afraid of breaking the end mill.

I need to go about 0.110 deep. Am I better to try the whole depth at one time and go very slowly, or am I better to take several smaller cuts? I hate to take the time with small cuts, but I don't know how much stress I am putting on the end mill with a bigger cut.

Any help is appreciated and I thank you in advance.

Thanks

Glen
 
PraNuity said:
I am using a 1/32 end mill to cut a slot in a fiber tube for a veneer. I don't have a cnc or a power feed, so it's all manual. Because the mill is so small, I really can't get a feel for it and I'm afraid of breaking the end mill.

I need to go about 0.110 deep. Am I better to try the whole depth at one time and go very slowly, or am I better to take several smaller cuts? I hate to take the time with small cuts, but I don't know how much stress I am putting on the end mill with a bigger cut.

Any help is appreciated and I thank you in advance.

Thanks

Glen
Click to expand...

It is hard to give you an exact answer. Alot of it depends on your setup. How fast is your spindle? How much runout? I would try at least 3 or 4 passes moving moderatly slow. Also keep the channel clear with air.
By the way Glen, I have broken many endmills. It will happen.

Jim.
 
The only helpful suggestion that I can make is that you need a bigger, heavier machine w/pwr-fd. The pwr-feed is the key here.
Depending on the tolerance of your table gibs, you could be throwing the table(and workpiece) back & forth as it's moving forward by cranking manually.
With pwr-feed, once it's engaged and accepts the load, it's a straight ahead constant push until you or the limit switch tells it to stop.
If you think about it, you could fab a pwr-feed for your mill, whatever it is you're using and accomplish the same thing.

The problem with manually cranking is that you are no where near as smooth as a motor would be. You won't break as many bits either with a pwr-feed.
 
try using a slotting saw and come in from the side they are cheap and wont break like an end mill. I did it that way before cnc
 
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