[josh591]

We have a haas vf4 and cutting A36 steel plate.

I looked up SFM and IPT values and get SFM=200-400 and IPT=0.0014-0.0021

They also suggest depth of cut = 1/8 diameter of tool.

This seems reasonable for end mills but face mills are much bigger diameter. Do these forumulas work normally?

What are some example RPM, Feedrates, and depth of cuts for a 1" 4 flute carbide end mill and a 4" face mill on A36 steel? We seem to be chipping a lot of tools...

Thanks for any tips!

[KevinWilkins]

Endmills are not endmills. Contact the maker of the tool for their suggestions regarding tools, feeds and speeds.

I suggest Hanita Varimill, Ingersoll, Jongen, Gühring/R. Stock as suppliers- The first 3 have all actually come to my shop to help me and Gühring has a factory about a mile away and their engineers are always available to make suggestions.

And buy good quality tooling.

I recently bought some "no name" 8mm carbide endmills. I attempted to profile mill stainless parts. The "no name" cutter broke off before even one part was done. Then I put in a Hanita Varimill and did 75 parts at the same feed and speed before it started getting dull. Sure the Hanita costs 3 times what the cheapo cutter cost but it was 100% money wasted.

[cutting edge]

I use nothing but varimill. They will cut until you do something stupid to break it.