High-Speed Milling of Hard Metals It can be done, but there's more involved than buying a new spindle By Craig

McQueen Application Team Leader Makino Inc. Mason, OH Craig.McQueen@makino.com Until recently, metals above R !" were considered too hard to machine at high speed, so the soft-steel part would be roughed and semifinished, and when it came bac# from hardening the details would be finished off by a capable machine tool or by hand$ %hese operations ran at slow speeds to #eep the machine from crashing, and to avoid brea#ing the tool$ %o machine hardened steels at high speed, you must have a machine tool, control, and tooling that are up to the tas#$ &lso, you must be able to write a program that gives appropriate consideration to the stresses a tool undergoes at high speeds when milling hardened material$ &nd finally, you must rethin# how your people are trained, because a different mindset is re'uired to successfully machine hardened steels at high speed$ (iven the re'uirements inherent to high-speed machining )HSM* of hard materials, and the challenges summari+ed above, why is this process worth pursuing, -uite simply, once mastered, it's a great way to improve productivity$ .n average, we've been able to reduce cycle times from traditional hard-milling processes by half to two-thirds, and improve surface finishes to the point that no hand polishing or bench time is re'uired$ In fact, we're consistently seeing surface finishes of / 0m R a in highspeed, hard-milling applications of steels hardened to R 12$ 3e are successfully removing hardened metal at 4222 fpm )52" m6min* for steels hardened to R !", as much as 122 fpm )475 m6min* for steels to R !"8"7, and as high as !22 fpm )499 m6min* for R 12: material$ %esting continues, and we're finding that we can push our spindles faster everyday, removing even more hardened metal at higher speeds$ So what's involved in successful high-speed hard milling, &s a first re'uirement, it's pretty obvious that the spindles had to speed up for HSM;from 92,222 rpm on average to around !2,222 rpm;to permit faster feeds without increasing cutting force$ %he speed isn't the most important thing to note, however, because higher speeds don't necessarily mean shorter cycle times$ If you can't hold the same accuracies in HSM as in conventional machining, and have a reliable system, you'll <ust spend more time fi=ing problems$ 3hen you bump up the spindle speed, you must be confident of your machine's stability and be certain that other aspects of system performance, such as processing, control, communication, servomotors, bearings, chip management, and tool rigidity can handle the process$

%o handle a spindle operating at high speed, > processing speed has had to improve$ %oday's high-speed processors are significantly faster than those used years ago, and the control software is more advanced$ .ur company's latest control software pac#age, for e=ample, which is designated S(I$!, has been optimi+ed specifically for HSM$ In addition, modern bus architecture and connection speeds have enabled controllers to communicate with the spindle much more efficiently and reliably$ ?unctional parts, such as the servomotors and bearings, must be able to handle HSM$ %he servomotors must be designed to get ma=imum tor'ue without overloading the motors, to increase acceleration of the a=es, while maintaining smooth motion that preserves mechanical components$ Many of the new digital servosystems provide 41 million pulses6ballscrew revolution to assist in this tas#$ Right now, the best bearings for HSM are hybrid steel race ceramic balls, which permit less tor'ue at higher speed with finer finishes, and are electrically inert$ @on't forget to consider the chip management system$ It's important when doing HSM that chips are evacuated from the wor#space 'uic#ly and efficiently, given the increased metal removal rate$ !en you"re cutting into materials that are over R !", the process generates vibration and heat$ Aoth can lead to inaccuracies, chatter, tooling failures, growth and other problems$ %he first step to ta#e in dealing with vibration and heat is to employ a stable machine tool and toolholder$ Stable machine tools have rigid, heavy castings$ ast-iron construction is especially important to limit deflection and provide thermal stability$ More massive machine tools will fight the forces you're applying to hardened material$ >ot that you should buy a machine tool based solely on its weight, but mass is something to be #ept in mind if you'll be hard milling$ &nother important feature is thermal control$ &s a part is machined over long periods of time, the machine e=periences thermally driven changes caused by ambient temperatures$ & stable machine will not permit those temperatures to negatively influence part-cutting$ Many molds are machined for days, especially large molds, and thermal control becomes important to maintain polish-free surface finishes and tool-to-tool blending$ & well-cooled spindle that provides repeatable, predictable thermal growth helps maintain these characteristics$ Spindle core cooling is a process patented by our company that can reduce spindle growth in high-speed spindles$ ore cooling limits the amount of thermally driven growth, and enables the spindle to stabili+e very 'uic#ly$ ooling oil temperature is accurately controlled, and the same oil is pumped into the center of the spindle$ So the oil that lubricates the spindle also cools it$ As #or t!e tool!older, you need to decide what #ind of holder fits your application best$ & mill chuc#, for instance, is great for roughing in hardened steels$ It provides e=cellent vibration damping, good runout, and rigidity$ Mill chuc#s aren't very accurate, though, so a collet chuc# might be a better option$

%he biggest thing to consider when pic#ing a toolholder is how much damping you need$ %he toolholder system should not allow energy to transfer into the spindle interface, the critical contact point between the tool and the spindle$ Minimi+ing the damage that roughing will do by absorbing energy with a toolholder damping system will e=tend tool life, and improve bearing life and runout$ Runout for roughing tools will typically range from 2$22" to 2$2224B )2$49/82$225 mm* while finishing tools held in shrin#-fit holders can achieve runout of about 2$229 to 2$2222!B )2$2"8 2$224 mm*$ & well-made collet chuc# will absorb vibration, has good runout, accepts many tool si+es, and can be used for the finish wor# needed in most applications$ If you need to get really accurate, a shrin#-fit holder becomes your best option$ In most roughing applications, however, it won't absorb the vibration created during high-speed roughing of hard materials$ Aasically, shrin#-fit holders should be used for semi-finish and finish routines$ >o matter what toolholder you use, when you're running high speeds in hardened steels it becomes especially important to balance them$ 3e balance all holders to g9$" at ma=imum system cutting rpm$ Cou need to use a tool that is specifically designed for cutting hardened steels$ @on't assume normal tooling will wor#$ Several manufacturers offer tools that are rated to cut "2 R , even R 12, materials$ Ae sure to do some tests with your tool, machine tool and toolholder to ma#e sure all the ingredients add up$ Make sure your programming so#t$are allows the use of many techni'ues that can be valuable when tac#ling hardened steels at high speeds$ %rochidal roughing, effective lead-in and lead-out control, arc-fitting corners, high-tolerance toolpaths, and gouge-chec#ing can influence your ability to hard mill$ If the program on the > won't allow control of these factors or permit employment of these techni'ues, loo# for new software$ Usually, software capable of handling these techni'ues is designed specifically for hard milling$ &nother important programming factor involves understanding how to handle stepovers and stepdowns relative to material hardness$ %his often-overloo#ed point can ma#e a big difference in how well you can hard mill$ %able 4 shows our company's basic guidelines$ 3e suggest that chip load be #ept at about 4D of cutting-tool diam$ &nd when cutting hardened materials at high speeds, we recommend leaving "D of the semifinish cutting tool diameter as plus stoc# )the amount of material left after the roughing routine*$ %uring t!e roug!ing operation, you'll need to determine the effective diameter of the cutting tool to engage to ma=imi+e feed rate and decrease cycle times according to the appropriate formula$ Aasically, be sure that your program and programming ability can handle high speeds in hardened steels$ 3ithout the proper techni'ues, you'll burn up tools and scrap parts left and right$ If you've never programmed for high speed machining before and6or for hardened steels, odds are you won't be able to do both without some training$ Hard milling at !ig! speed is very different from hard milling at slow speeds, and is very different than high-speed soft milling$ %he same principles don't necessarily apply, and the

margin of error is much slimmer$ (iven these facts, we believe it's essential that shops who ta#e on high-speed hard milling have a staff prepared to handle this change$ & good e=ample of the difference between soft milling and hard milling at high speeds is the tendency to thin# that it's .E to leave mista#es to be machined, benched, or polished later$ If your goal is to reduce cycle time by s#ipping the soft-roughing step, there's no room for benching after the piece is machined$ Instead, each step of the manufacturing process must be scrutini+ed, and the part must be e=amined and approved for the ne=t step$ %his Berror-freeB process must be instituted at every step, from receiving the blan# to the final e=amination of the part$ If a bad part is left unchec#ed or passed onto the ne=t step, the whole process collapses, lead times increase, and you might as well go bac# to the old way of doing things$ Mac!inists and mac!ine operators must be trained on how hard to push the machines and tooling$ It's easy, once you see progress in high-speed hard milling, to push the process until something brea#s$ Aut crashing a machine tool, ruining a spindle, or destroying specialty tooling can become e=pensive and time-consuming$ Ma#e sure your people are trained on the capabilities of the e'uipment and tooling used for high-speed hard milling, not <ust in general$

%raining is not only important to protect your capital e'uipment and #eep your scrap rate low, but also so the rest of the organi+ation can prepare for how the part flow might change$ Many companies who implement HSM reali+e that bottlenec#s 'uic#ly form$ 3hen an operation is used to running at a certain pace, it can be overwhelmed when a particular component is sped up$ %his becomes especially important when you begin high-speed hard milling, because times decrease a great deal, often more than "2D$ 3e recommend sending your machinists to a class that teaches the art of high-speed hard milling, and even bringing in a high-speed hardmilling applications engineer to tal# about how things might change$ %his article was first Engineering maga+ine$ Gublished @ate H 4646922/ - See more atH httpH66www$sme$org6MIMaga+ine6&rticle$asp=,idJ94K4!Lsthash$S2cC+15@$dpuf published in the Fanuary 922/ edition of Manufacturing