[Newbie] Boy Did I Mess Up W/ A Ball Mill. Pics. Resolved

[countryguy]

I went right from Steel Milling into aluminum. Played w/ some holes, pockets, drilling. Seemed to go fine.
In the excitment of a new part to build- I forgot to play w/ the ball mill in Aluminum 6061.

I simply wanted to put a small 1/8 chamfer type edge w/ the 1/4 ball. Then I would do the 1/4 2 flute to cut it out and get a pretty edge ??? (hope for an OK edge actually)

Tool 3= 1/4 ball. 1" stickout. 4500RPM .125 DOC. feed 11 in/min
Tool 4= 2 flute 1/2" 4700 RPM doc .084 3 passes. Feed 8 in/min
(gwizard specs- generic VMC ... set evetying less aggresive by 30+ precent.)

I am thinking I should have run the .25 cutout w/ Tool 4 first??? Then let the ball go in.
another issue- I accidently went w/ the fully .125 on the ball mill. Maybe it should have been 2 passes?

The part can still be saved. Just want to it right.

 

[countryguy]

I have enough aluminum to mess up 3 more base plates. Off to chores. On a positive note- My CNC peck drill run of the 12 or so holes went great!

 

[JimDawson]

It looks like the chip welded to the cutter, and maybe the feed was a bit (OK, a lot) fast? Coolant? Looks kinda dry. Judging from the edge of the slot, I would say the end mill was melting it's way through. A ball end won't cut as fast as a flat end mill, the center is running at 0 FPM. I'm thinking you are correct, 2 or 3 passes might have been in order here.

Also, a 2 flute would give you more chip clearance.

 

[countryguy]

Thanks as always Jim! Should I cut the outer slot first ? It would keep the center out of the material then. I think I did my ops order backwards??

It looks like the chip welded to the cutter, and maybe the feed was a bit (OK, a lot) fast? Coolant? Looks kinda dry. Judging from the edge of the slot, I would say the end mill was melting it's way through. A ball end won't cut as fast as a flat end mill, the center is running at 0 FPM. I'm thinking you are correct, 2 or 3 passes might have been in order here.

 

[JimDawson]

My pleasure.

That would be helpful, it would relieve a lot of load on the ball mill. And if you're new to cutting aluminum, it helps to keep the cutter kind of wet. WD-40 is good.

 

[countryguy]

got it! Tomorrow 0500 I will be in the shop before work to give it a go. I need this machine torch holder done ASAP. Hope to see you online. . Kidding of course.

Love this stuff... Wd40. Cool.

 

[coolidge]

Grrrraahhhhhh pink, that brings back memories.

 

[derf]

It would make more sense to me, to drill the holes first, then use them to hold down to the spoil board. Instead of trying to mill off the excess by making a ring around it, I would go down full depth and walk around the part. Then use the ball mill for the final chamfer.

 

[countryguy]

Thanks Derf. Ops order is to drill and includes drill down holes for of spoil Board? (Cool term). Then mill out the good part. Unscrew from the Spoil board? (You guys have way better lingo the us IT geeks. ). I think I will also change gwizard to the x45 clone setting.

IT end user term. ID 10 T errors on my ends . Anyone? Probably universal these days

 

[Billh50]

kerosene also works well on aluminum for a lube while machining.