[jpwestside]

just purchased haas tl-2 and we machine large amounts of uhmwpe. I'm unsure of what tooling to use.
Previously we've only ever machined it on conventional lathes using a highspeed steel tool, would this be acceptable on our new cnc or is there a better alternative? help?!!!

[wronggrade]

i machine a lot of different plastics on cnc lathes all with standard carbide
some things to keep in mind, always use a sharp nose radius tool
and feed heavy, any shoulder faces have to be finished before turns
wont like the up feed. i run in metric with a 325 surface speed and .5 feed
for rough and 375 and .3 for finish on uhmw clean coolent helps as it will stain
the white plastic

[Geof]

Iscar has some inserts made in micrograin carbide with a large top rake that are intended for aluminum. These would probably work well on UHMW which needs a very keen cutting edge and top rake.