Origin/consistency of chipload recommendations

So it seems like a Podcast w/o any video? Is there a link to a video you intended to post?

I listened to about the last 1/4th of program #6, so I can learn about the chipload vs. DOC thing, but I didn’t hear it, can you narrow-down where they go through that please/

TIA!

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Using what endmill diameter ?
Just asking because I recently applied the recipe from the table discussed above in the thread, to do a profile cut using a 1/8" endmill in aluminium, targeting a chipload of 0.0005" (halving the 0.001" for 1/4"), and it turned out to be too little, so I used +50% feedrate override and the cut went perfectly. So I would tend to update that table with 0.00075" starting value for 1/8" and 0.0015" for 1/4".

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Blockquote
So it seems like a Podcast w/o any video? Is there a link to a video you intended to post?
I listened to about the last 1/4th of program #6, so I can learn about the chipload vs. DOC thing, but I didn’t hear it, can you narrow-down where they go through that please/
TIA!

No video that I know of as mentioned in the Podcast 001.

OOPS forgot the link to the DOC and sound of cut video - sorry! I’ll add it to the original post.

Starting chip-load mention is about 57 minutes into Podcast 006.

Thanks for making me look up TIA! I’m kind of old I guess.

Thanks, I guess I did hear that the first time, the accent may have thrown me off.

And thank you for the link!

@Julien @Vince.Fab @Everyone Else

IMO it would be really helpful and beneficial for folks to provide full details when they post results. IE material being cut, endmill used, depth of cut, width of cut, spindle speed, feed rate, as well as spindle/router and machine used.

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agreed, and I actually try to do this whenever I can, this one just happened to be in another thread

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That’s alot of information to put just to say it liked 0.0015 to 0.002 actual chipload, and that’s spread over facing, adaptive, boring and contour ops. Chatter was addressed usually with feed override. Tool pressure +1

Adaptive on Nomad
5000 rpm, 164sfm, 4 flute 0.125
40ipm, 0.002 chipload, 0.0015 actual maximal chip
Titanium 8mm-0.080"
0.020 Radial Doc, 0.030 axial

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I would also add the type of Shapeoko or Nomad, if it is equipped with upgrades like HDZ that may impact rigidity as they will all have an impact on F&S.

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@Vince.Fab
Thanks for the added info. Here’s why I think its useful.
Feed rate (IPM), axial depth of cut (ADC), and radial depth of cut (RDC) are necessary to determine material removal rate (MRR = IPM X ADC X RDC). MRR and material type determine how much cutting power is required. Cutting Power = MRR X material’s unit power. Cutting power (HP) = Cutter Speed (RPM) X Cutter Torque (ft-lbf) / 5252. Cutting force (lbf) = cutter torque / cutter radius. Machine and workpiece force = Cutter force.

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That video really does a great job explaining why adaptive milling is “where it is at.”

Thanks for posting that.

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I plugged the information provided by @Julien and @Vince.Fab into the GWizard, HSMAdvisor, and Kennametal calculators to help understand and compare cutting powers and forces. Details are provided in the attachment and the results are summarized below. Due to the small values involved, neither Kennametal nor HSMAdvisor had enough displayed resolution to provide accurate results. So, as shown in the attachment, I used their highest resolution results to calculate the other results more accurately. I assumed that Julien was cutting 6061 T6 aluminum. Vince didn’t say which type of Titanium he was cutting, so I did calculations for both Grade 1 and Grade 5 (the most likely grade).

Note that, unlike the other calculators, GWizard did not adjust its calculations based on the selected Titanium alloy.

imageS

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It was cp1 which is a grade 4 and it was definitely pushing the spindle power wise. Its interesting the difference in figures on the calculators.

We just picked up a really nice infrared camera and it would be fun to change chiploads and see the temperature differences

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Grade 4 Titanium takes ~ 0.03 HP (22 Watts) according to HSMAdvisor. How much does the Nomad have? If you have 0,125 shank with 1 inch stick-out, HSMAdvisor says you have 0.0029 endmill deflection though.

Update:
Less than 1/3 the output power (22 vs 70 Watts) at 1/2 the rated?/maximum speed (5,000 vs 10,000 RPM sounds really low for a properly rated and operated brushless DC motor. But, try higher speeds anyway?

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The nomad has 70 watts and only 10k maximum rpm, stickout was minimal though, maybe 0.750.

That deflection number definitely isn’t right, I was taking radial steps of 0.020 so that doesn’t make any sense. Imo deflection was minimal because the finish contours were very predictable.

Harder metals like Titanium need to have their SFM kept in check because of heat. I’m running around the middle area due to the fact that I dont have an “active” coolant or air blast.

I use a pretty heavy chipload (relative to the nomad) to carry the heat away. Plus it just sounds and feels like nothing else while cutting.

Reducing stickout from 1 inch to 0.75 inch reduces deflection from 0.0029 inches to 0.0013 inches (my bad - I’ll fix it). Assuming its a carbide endmill - HSS would be much more!

Just as a comparison, since I am trying to test this open-source cutting calculator @WillAdams found and pointed out (Bryan Turner’s Feeds and Speeds Calculator). Here is what it comes up with:

Julien’s 6061 T6 Aluminum
Link to Calculation
Chipload = 0.00075 (set by Julien)
Power (HP) = 0.00891
Tangential Cutting Force (lbf) = 0.12
Axial Cutting Force (lbf) = 0.63
Unit cutting power (HP/in^3) = 0.33

So the tangential cutting force seems low compared to the other calculators. Otherwise fairly in line. Also, it might be due to the unit power being off (which you can define yourself as a custom material.)

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Try 0.22 for unit power. Update: Just noticed that those Axial and Tangential cutting forces labels are apparently swapped (transposed)!

Unit power is the key and the hardest thing to get “right” - apparently even for metals, which have been published for years in machinists’ handbooks. Likely because those values are dependent on the cutter and how its used as well as the material. Take a look at Sandvik’s website if you dare. IMO Kennmetal does the best job of making its calculation user friendly and accurate. They make cutters and provide useful/reasonable speeds and feeds recommendations for their use.

That’s why it makes more sense to monitor cutting forces and/or sound as shown in this video or spindle input power as shown in this video.. Measuring forces is hard/expensive, sound is easy if the spindle is quiet enough, measuring input power is easy and inexpensive (adequate Chinese versions are available inexpensively from Amazon).

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@gmack, well thank you sir for pushing me further down the rabbit hole, just when I thought I started to get a hang of this chipload thing, now I have a whole other aspect (power) to take into account :slight_smile:

Seriously though, do you mind dumbing it down for me and explaining how these power-centric estimations should be taken into account in the overall process of determining optimal feeds and speeds ?

My earlier approach was (obviously) chipload-centric, and “just” aimed at making chips that are thick enough to manage heat, while still being compatible with the Shapeoko capabilities (once depth of cut etc are added in the mix). I have not even considered optimising MRR or pushing power to the limits of what the machine can do, and I would be very interested in complementing my somewhat naive approach with these power considerations…and what to do with these values.

Your insights will be much appreciated (and sorry if you did explain that earlier and I missed it!)

p.s. : the aluminium I used for the test cut mentionned above was in fact 2017A T451. It is surprisingly hard to find affordable 6061 over here.

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Look for 6082, it’s very similar to 6061 and should be way more readily available in the EU. If you’re looking for 6061 (USA), go for 6082 (EU), if going for 2024 (USA), then 2017 (EU) is what you’ll find. In my day job I work for a European company that sources parts made in both the US and Europe. I spend good chunks of my day making sure that materials (alternates) are compatible with designs that come from different engineering groups around the globe. Those grades of aluminum are what I deal with most.

Edit/note: 2000 series and 6000 series aluminums are very different animals.

Dan

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Thank you Dan, that is quite helpful. The reason I went for 2017 is

a) because this local French site sells cheap 2017 scrap cuttings, so I can experiment without thinking twice about wasting material

they also have 7075T6 and 5083h111

b) the wiki has these statements:
" AU4G (2017) is really good at machining : you can take deep passes (~0.3 to 0.5mm) at something around 500 to 800mm/min (20 to 23 ipm). This aluminium will resist to the heat and won’t melt."

“7075 also gives good results when milling, but is difficult to cut on a Shapeoko”

“5083: Tough, strong alloy with excellent corrosion resistance, however not easy to machine”

Can you elaborate on the pro’s and con’s of 2000 vs 6000 series ?
What about 7075 & 5083, do you agree with the wiki ?