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Watch Solutions for Hard Milling
Makino demonstrates the latest techniques and technologies for high-speed machining of hardened materials for die or mold applications. Check out tips, tricks, and new technologies you can use to mill the toughest steels, shortening your lead times, lowering your costs, and eliminating bench work.

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Next we want to talk about lead in and lead out. A few examples are helical ramp in, vertical ramp in, and horizontal ramp in. All of these are extremely effective for coming into material.

Ultimately what we are trying to do is eliminate any entry marks. If I'm doing a roughing routine and I'm starting on the inside of the block and working outward, I might only want to have a half a degree to a one degree worth of ramp in. This way I have an effective ramp in but I'm not going to cause the tool to overload as I start to increase that ramp. If I go to a two or three or four degree and higher, what is going to happen is I'm going to put more shock on the tool - and that's what I'm trying to eliminate. This will also allow for us to maintain higher feedrates because we are going to ramp into the part based on the feedrate that we are going to cut. So if I'm cutting at a hundred inches a minute, my ramp is going to be a hundred inches a minute as well.

Next we want to talk about arc fitting in corners. Arc fitting in corners allows me to reduce dwelling of the tool. It also allows me to maintain a higher feedrate because I'm not coming to a complete stop. Cutter shock is minimized since I'm not stopping and changing directions. I'm not allowing the tool to sit and dwell and it will also minimize the amount of gouging. Arc fitting becomes especially effective as I get further out because as my tool gets longer, increasing deflection.

So if I am stopping and hesitating into a corner I will end up taking excess material because the tool will dwell. So I'm trying to eliminate that gouging motion. I'm sure many of you have heard a squealing noise when you change directions, especially as the length gets longer. That is the gouging we're trying to avoid.