Speed and Feed for D2 Tool Steel
- #1
Hi,
I have been trying to find the optimum cutting speed and feed for cutting D2 ANSI steel. Brinell hardness is about 250 for this high carbon, high chromium steel. I have used a 0.5 inch 5 flute mill (solid carbide TiALN coated). I set the speed at 2500 RPM and tried 3ipm. Depth of cut was 0.1" and 1/4" wide per pass. For these settings I get a life of about 4 cubic inches of metal removed before the cutter starts to lose its edge. There is flood coolant ( Deckel FP4NC CNC mill )Is this normal, I tend to work with softer metals and this seems to be pretty expensive on end mills.
Any comments are welcome.
Thanks Ray
- #2
Your Speed is a little high. Maybe try these values. 2400 Rpm and 12 IPM.
I would also NOT use flood coolant. You have to be carefull not to work harden the part and cause premature cutter failure. You may want to use a little air blast to remove the chips.
With tool steels it is a good idea to put as much heat as possible into the chip. If the chip carries away the heat then it is less able to affect the work or the tool.
You may also want to try a tool with less flutes.
Good luck
ARB
- #3
Hi Ray;
My calculations put the RPM at 1280 RPM. For HSS cutters I figure 40 ft/min (even that is fast for D-2) and get 320 RPM. Take that times 4 for Carbide=1280. Been many year sinse I machined D-2 so I could be off.
Jim
- #4
ARB,
Just checking, about the feedspeed 12IPM seems pretty fast..
Ray
- #5
YOU SHOULD BE AT 200 SFM (SURFACE FEET PER MINUTE)WHICH IS ABOUT 1500RPM, AND AROUND .002 -.005 IPT (INCHES PER TOOTH) FEED RATE
OR 3.0- 7.5 IPM (INCHES PER MINUTE) OR A LITTLE MORE DEPENDING ON HOW RIGID YOUR SET UP IS. IF YOU ARE USING TIALN COATED CARBIDE YOU SHOULD TRY TO DRY MACHINE. THE HEAT WILL MAKE THE COATING WORK TO THE BEST OF IT'S ABILITY AND THE HEAT WILL GO OFF WITH THE CHIP.
- #6
The best cutter I've found is an inserted CERATIP with ceramic "TC-30" TPG-222 inserts.
With a 3/4 dia. cutter in a Bridgeport for D2 steel,about 100RPM .030 or .040 depth of cut and as fast as your Servo 150 will feed.
The chips take ALL of the heat and with multiple passes, you can remove a heck of a lot of material in a short time.
Next best thing since the disappearance from toolrooms of the hydraulic shaper.
PS (TC-50 inserts for Stainless Steel)
Kyocera Industrial Ceramics Corp., P.O.Box 678, Mountain Home, NC 28758 Phone (800)8-CERATIP
(This address may be old, I haven't ordered anything from them in past 4 years)
- #7
CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS POST!!!
Not 100 RPM but 1600 to 1800RPM for tool steel and 2900RPM for mild steel.
- #8
Chad,
I've found the best rate seems to be around 200FPM but I'm a little worried about running with no coolant... So how do you tell if this is working? Should I turn out the lights and look for a red glow from the endmill?
Ray
- #9
Hi,
Thanks for all the help 
. Seems the feed rate works out to be about 3 FPM and the surface speed needs to be around 200 FPM. I tried dry machining with the last operation with a 1/8" ballmill running at 6300RPM and 3 FPM seems to work just fine.
Any words of wisdom about depth and width of cut with toolsteels? I think one should cut as deep as possible to get the most out of the cutter. In this case I used 0.1" depth and half the cutter diameter for roughing. I was running a bit fast using a surface speed 325FPM, next time I'll try 200FPM and no coolant for sure.
Cheers
Ray
- #10
Hi,
Thanks for all the help
. Seems the feed rate works out to be about 3 IPM and the surface speed needs to be around 200 FPM. I tried dry machining with the last operation with a 1/8" ballmill running at 6300RPM and 3 IPM seems to work just fine.
Any words of wisdom about depth and width of cut with toolsteels? I think one should cut as deep as possible to get the most out of the cutter. In this case I used 0.1" depth and half the cutter diameter for roughing. I was running a bit fast using a surface speed 325FPM, next time I'll try 200FPM and no coolant for sure.
Cheers
Ray
[This message has been edited by Prototype (edited 11-05-2003).]
[This message has been edited by Prototype (edited 11-05-2003).]
- #11
I Pulled the speeds and feeds right out of the DuraMill catalog and they are usually spot on with there starting points.
BTW if you haven't tried their cutters you should. They are great.
Just for reference I have run a HSS 1" rough mill at 200RPM and Feed at 2 IPM 1" deep full width slotting all day long before in D2,A2,H13 etc... .
If you have a rugged machine and put the heat in the chip machining tool steels can be fun.
Take Care
ARB
- #12
ARB,
Thanks for the help, I'll check out Duramill!
PS: I can just imagine the fun of roughing out D2 at the rates you mention and with a mere HSS mill, wow...
Ray
Source: https://www.practicalmachinist.com/forum/threads/milling-d2-steel.92381/
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