Shredding Aluminum on the HAAS VM3!

Testing out the Lakeshore Carbide TAS Roughing End Mill on the HAAS VM3 CNC Mill using Fusion 360 Adaptive CAM strategy.

[longrangehunter]

End mill shootout! Get some end mill manufacturers like destiny tool, and GW shultz to donate some 1/4" or 3/8" roughing end mills for aluminum and test them to see which is the strongest. Run 25-40% step over and keep kicking up the feed rate until you run out of hp or break the tool. Run the exact same parameters for each end mill tested and see which one can be run the hardest. Im sure the end mill manufacturers would have no issue sending some to someone with as large of a following as you.

[ScottMoyse]

manually changing the P value to a coarser setting runs the risk of gouging your part. the post works out which setting to use based on the overall tolerance settings on your toolpath and stock to leave. It used to also check which toolpath you were using, but I think that's been taken out of later posts. So basically if you add more stock to leave, and decrease your tolerance, it will post P1. Ive measured 0.5mm of deflection in an end mill during a cut before in a straight line. And that doesn't include the deviation from the programmed path that can happen with control based smoothing algorithms like G187.

[centurialinc]

That was fast! I got a request. Buy the cheapest 1/2" end mill on ebay or Buy a set. And push those as hard as you can. I want to know how much the extra dollar gets you.

I know it's a sin to put cheap tools in a super nice haas. But come on. Don't you want to know???? 60$ vs. 10$????

Best Matt

[patrickmcclintock]

Ask and ye shall receive. That was cool.

We are running a job currently in aluminum where we are cutting pockets using a "traditional" toolpath. Normally I prefer adaptive (iMachining in our case) for pockets or open pockets, but in aluminum, we are absolutely flying. See how deep of a slot you can cut with that 1/2", in one pass. I'd start at max RPM, and I wouldn't be afraid to start at .010 IPT and .250 DOC.

The other would be, go for a slightly thinner cut with your adaptive toolpaths and jack the feed way up. 500+ IPM.

Love it! It's amazing what modern tools are capable of.

[PracticalRenaissance]

I was watching a video of yours from 2010 about making a vise speed handle when the notification for this video came up :)

[keithhansen]

Great video John. I am interested in your belief that er's are not suitable for heavy use. I absolutely push further than this video example all the time using 1/2" 3fl carbide w/er32. Proper tightening, I agree, is a must. Love the Haas vid's, btw.

[Bitfrogess]

If you don't have a grinder I would highly suggest one. My boss grinds flats on any endmill thats bigger than 1/8". Takes a couple minutes and saves a ton of headache fixing runout in collets. Not saying its perfect, but for most things it works really well.

[Eggsrbcrushed]

If anybody is into super high removal rate, here are vids for you to search. I copy pasted the titles.

OKK HMC-400 1500 CC/MIN! - 90 CU IN/MIN! IMTS Cutting Demo

Haas VF-3SS / CNC Machine / 1.5" Depth of Cut

[ArcAiN]

We want to see that tool do the 40 degree ramp on a pocket :D

[xservreal]

looking forward to the video on why not ER collet :-) Fellow CNC learner here.

[curttaphorn]

love the great videos keep em coming. I have been using fusion in our shop for a year now and from my experience g187 is not necessary when you used the smoothing setting because when possible the post will spit out g02 and g03s whenever it can giving you smoother cutting instead of the jerky x y moves generated when not using smoothing. now if you do not have advanced read ahead on your control you have to to slow down your IPM so the control can keep up with the many lines of code its trying to read. overriding your default setting for g187 in the program will make your machine run smoother but it will drastically extend machining time. I found the best solution to not having advanced read ahead is setting my tolerance to .0001 and my smoothing set to .001. for every type of operation even finishing. when I really really need read ahead i use the trial package that every haas has theres 200 hrs free and the difference in how it reacts to the code is very noticable.

this week I ran a job it was 6061 t6 aluminum. i used a helical 3 flute 5/8 diameter 2.125 loc variable pitch. parameters for that where 1.25 depth of cut .125 radial depth of cut 11, 900 rpm at 350 inches per minute. this was done on a haas vf4 ss. my spindle loads were up to 110 max. i also did this in a standard er collet with 100lbs of torque.

I love this trade and i love seeing guys teaching others i also like seeing guys like dingle 1973 taking interest in this after machining a certain way for so long. much respect

[johnmud]

FYI G187 is simply changing the parameter (also changeable by default in your settings/parameters). I used to work for a Haas distributor, but can't remember the setting/parameter # off the top of my head. Great vid.

[PeterUhrskovBerg]

My man!

Nice to see that you use high quality toolholders, those badboys are half the job! :)

[timothyperreault]

Have you ever tried alcohol or denatured alcohol on aluminum? Leaves a killer finish !

[Max_Marz]

I want you to push it till it breaks and back off a little, obviously!

But if you're looking for idras in a more open ended spectrum I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed on what face mill to choose for use on our bridgeports, Perhaps facemills would be a good topic for a video? I'm looking for something fairly free cutting for stainless, something I can use for squaring blocks quickly. Intuition tells me these old machines are cappable of taking at LEAST some .100 deep cuts with a 2 inch cutter. I've been resorting to long 1" dia corncobs to get my MRR up to anywheres' near efficient in stainless on the bridgeport but we desperately need a decent facemill.

[WatchWesWork]

In aluminum, those small step over tool paths are a waste. You can run 90% radial engagement as long as you can hold onto your work piece. You should be able to get 100% spindle load with a 1/2 tool.

[DoRC]

Methodically push it faster and faster until it breaks or bogs down the haas

[Eggsrbcrushed]

Now that is material removal. Nice power from the HAAS.

[travisc]

Hey john i run a finishing Yg 1/2 in in my vf-2 ss at 12000 rpm and 550 imp 30% stepover, with that taz im sure you can get max rpm 75% step over 400IMP and to get G187 p1 to output leave more stock and fusion will give a p1

[traviswiebe]

I'd like to see a comparison of different high performance emails in steel, tool life, finishing ability, roughing ability, etc