I have used some of my Amana tools for 50+ hours. I would guess that you might have been recutting chips. This can quickly cause a buildup of aluminum on the tool edge. This can also happen if your chipload isn’t high enough.
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It can be somewhat tricky to figure out what’s happening, I brutally murdered a few bits on Aluminium to start with by not understanding things like, toolpaths running round a small circle like a bore or helical ramp, have a way higher effective speed.
I have had great results with single flute uncoated and DLC coated cutters bought locally here, they’re not expensive.
I have found that if the workpiece starts to heat up then the Aluminium goes very gummy and welds to almost any cutter, a few drops of Isopropanol as lubricant can help with that, or just reducing engagement (or surface speed on larger cutters)
And, as Nick says, recutting chips heats them up and melts them, I use dust extraction all the time on Aluminium.
Right, but this goes back to what I asked about. What was the toolpath you were trying to run when you broke the endmill? Did you plunge, ramp, helical into the stock? You say 50% engagement, is that axial or radial? Contours can be difficult since it doesn’t allow for as good of chip evacuation so are you running roughing passes first or contouring directly in with sidewalls on both sides? How are you holding down your parts? If it isn’t solid, it can shift and break endmills that way (done that one myself).
If you are able to share your CAD/CAM, we can break this down better and help remedy the situation so you can use whatever endmills you want. Many people around here use the Carbide3D Zrn endmills in aluminum so there must be something off with the way you tried to run them and we can help figure that out but only if you share everything you did.
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I have had amazing success with using these cheap single flute bits and using Fusion 360 adaptive tool paths, I am able to cut .13 DOC with a .02 engagement and they run forever. The trick in Fusion is to turn on Feed Optimization to around 12º and it slows down in the tough areas and makes it work well. I love using these bits as at $1.60 each I can push the limits a bit and then back off. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F35WQYG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Big fan of those too!
That is amazing!
I am still learning fusion, but I am going to have to try that!!
I get everything you are saying, but I think you are missing the point a little. The paths I run are working fine with the TiCN bits, with little to no issues. I run the same exact settings with the Zrn bits, and always have issues.
Since I know everyone loves this bits, I am trying to figure out why they aren’t working for me.
I will try to answer your questions and hopefully that can help. The parts are screwed down to a custom jig I made, so that should not be the issue. I am new to milling, but 50% I mean is radially (I think, it is a 4" disc, I cut with the bit right on the 4" line, so that the 1/8" bit makes a approx .060" cut, .010" depth). it is on the outside of the part, so chips fly/fall off; or when it is on the inside, there is already a cutout, so it falls that way. Since it is a shallow small cut, I currently just plunge.
That being said, thank you so much for your input. It has made me try and learn more, which is always good, and I appreciate there is a community willing to help!
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I would see if there is a way you could enter the material from the side rather than plunging into it. Plunging into aluminum is not great for most endmills. I don’t know if there is a way to do it in Carbide Create, someone with more experience in that software will have to help.
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Are you using any coolant? A helpful someone (my dad) suggested a coolant that luckily I did some reading up on because it can lead to thermal cracking when using carbide bits. I thought maybe if the coating is different something else may be causing issues.
I have only just started cutting aluminum and my pieces tend to be very small so I haven’t worried to much about speed but I also don’t have specialized bits. I have some single flutes (solid carbide) and I’ve done some finishing passes with v bits (I’m in Australia and found a small business who makes and sells bits here). Because the pieces are small and I’m still new to this I just change the speed manually when I hear it struggling. I have gone with the nomad 883 settings for the nomad 3 and slowly turned them up, I’ve gone slow mainly so I can also learn what sounds right and then pull back a bit when it starts sounding or looking rough.
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Is this true? Just like you, most respondents to this thread seem to use other bits and have success.
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Yeah, I think “everyone loves” is a bit too strong. Some people find them adequate. I think the people who live more in the Carbide 3D ecosystem (i.e. Carbide Create) enjoy them more for the built-in feeds and speeds.
If you’re not living in the Carbide 3D ecosystem, I don’t think they’re competitive.
On the budget end of things, for the price of a 274-Z, I can buy 3x DLC endmills from CncFraises or nearly 2x ZrN endmills from Sorotec. Both of those products are, in my opinion, of a much higher quality. For a start, they actually document recommended feeds and speeds parameters like chip load, surface speed etc.
On the higher end of things, the 274-Z is even more expensive than DATRON’s basic endmills and for ~$42 I can get a very nice DLC-coated endmill from DIXI Polytool. These also come with more extensive documentation.
If the endmills were really high-quality, and documented it might be okay but IMO the 274-Zs are overpriced and uncompetitive.
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I have the C3d Zrn mills but choose to run uncoated china 6mm single fluts to save money and get great results. With my lack of finger function I tend to drop and chip them and have yet to wear one out cutting before a mishap chips an edge.
I currently have some packaged up ready to send out to get Zrn coated that I meant to send off a few months ago but my post office was mobbed at the time so they are in my car I just keep forgetting to mail them
. You can buy uncoated mills and have them shipped to Surface Solutions to have them Alpha Zrn coated for around $2 each but there is a $25.00 min order.
I hope C3d adds Trochoidal milling and possibly a helical plunge to CC like Estlcam has for those not wanting to use Fusion 360.
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