Noobie, actually pre-noobie as I haven’t purchased a machine yet!
I’ve seen a number of Youtube videos from Carbide3D staff that use the Nomad to mill steel. Haven’t seen anything on doing the same with the HDM. Is there a reason?
I want to me able to mill knife blades (I’ve only ground them up to now) and don’t mind buying the larger and more powerful HDM to do so. However, because I have seen nothing speaking to this use I’m afraid it may be not doable (aka impossible).
For those experienced in using the HDM is it possible to mill hard steel? If so, what types of precautions or special techniques are required?
I did 303SS on the HDM with a 1/16" endmill. Kevin has made a video machining a cast iron pan on a Shapeoko on Youtube. Fundamentally, it’s all the same.
The RPM range of the spindle is fairly high for steel, which means you have to use a smaller diameter endmill to not burn up the material. Smaller endmills have to be used with less aggressive cutting parameters. And you have to do it dry, without coolant. The net result is that while the machines can totally cut ferrous metals, it is usually not practical to cut a lot of it because it will take a long time.
This is why when I did the knives I had the blanks cut to near-net shape so the Nomad had less work to do.