Speeds & Feeds

Wow! The Machinery Handbook, eh?

x2 What the others have said, except with one correction - the book's title is "Machinery's Handbook" and it's published by Industrial Press.
The classic version is is 5 x 7 1/4" and almost 3 inches thick.. Easier to read formats are available now

EDIT - you posted while I was typing...
EBAY is a good source - I have a #18 and a #27 from there.. The information doesn't go obsolete.
 
Read the reviews on the Machinery's Handbook 29th edition. Apparently early printings had poor quality paper, ink smudging, ink bleed through, and the paper was so thin that printing on the other side of the pages was so visible as to make the book very difficult if not impossible to read. Many returned as ususable.

Paper quality was improved in later printings, but opposite side of page printing is still visible through the page. Search around and you can find pictures of the problem.

Folks are saying get the 28th edition instead, but the 29th is claimed to be better organized and hence more useful.

Or, I guess the 29th is available on CD ROM. I think for something like that I would prefer a book.

I find all that to be ridiculous. The printing press was invented around 1440 BC. It's now 2016. One would think...
 
When squaring the side of a block for example, how much of the side of the tool is used? Maybe depth of cut is what I'm asking, but that does not sound quite right for milling the side of a piece.

Maybe it will become clear once I understand more, but I'm not sure how that relates to feed, speed and chip load.

Material removal rates are measured in cubic inches per minute (or CC/min in metric units). If you have a 50,000 lb machine and a 50HP spindle, the limiting factor is the tool bits, on machines that we normally work with the limiting factors are spindle HP and machine rigidity.

You can use the full cutting length of the tool. The ''stepover'' is limited by the machine and the rigidity of the tool. A full stepover is normally 40% of the tool diameter. I normally leave 0.005 to 0.010 for a finish cut, and make the finish cut at full depth. Less stepover is perfectly acceptable as long as the feed rate is maintained. When cutting a slot, for smaller tools, you are normally limited to 2x the diameter of the tool because the tool will tend to walk sideways.

Normally when squaring a block, I will face mill all six sides if possible.
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I have been doing this for about 50 years and I still learn everyday;) I just make fewer mistakes than I used to. Every time there is an OOPS, you learn what doesn't work:)
 
Just ordered Machinery's handbook, $70. Free shipping 25% off
Enco promo codes lpyr25 - lpyrff
 
After using the trail of G-Wizard I decided to purchase the full licence when it was on sale. The current pricing of $129 for 3 years and unlimited for life for 3 hp and under is a good value. He is always making improvements and upgrades are free for life.

I have been very happy with the software. I like that I can customize each machine profile based on actual usage and setup tool profiles. Even though my mill has a 2 hp motor due to the size and rigidity it behaves more like a 1.5 hp mill (in G-Wizard). Definitely has sped up my run times and I have only broken one cutter but that was a CAM error on my part.

Another thing to consider is coolant and chip evacuation.
 
There are lots of relatively inexpensive options here:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...achinery's+handbook&sprefix=machinery,aps,254
for Machinery's Handbook. Be careful of what you are buying, you want the handbook, not the pocket companion or other supplements. There are large and standard (pretty small) print versions. Older editions are quite usable. I have the 22nd edition, 1985. Any of the editions will be useful to the home machinist. The older ones are better for manual machines and cover archaic standards better, the newer versions have much better metric system support and cover the latest tooling and methods. They all cover the basics a machinist needs to know. Just get one, any of them, and you will be good to go. I put mine in the bathroom and went through it page by page, cover to cover, over about a year. That gave me a good idea what is in there.
 
I ordered the large print version, also the machinist calculator
 
I suppose there are many sources of info these days, but I'm old skool.

Machinery Handbook. That's all you need. Get one, cuddle up with it, and get familiar.

Wrat

My fall back reference is Machinery Handbook. It hasn't let me down yet but that's not to say I've quit looking for a better source.

Tom S

I concur with Wrat (I had a parallel experience to yours; I spent hours in the book learning new tricks) and Tom; but given how much of a firehose you have been drinking from so far, I thought throwing that at you as a reference right off would be trying to learn about medicine from reading a pharma catalog; so many unfamiliar terms and diagrams.
 
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