Troubleshooting
Tool Breakage
| New or reground tool | Non-Factory Reground tools create unknown variable(s) |
| Feed too high | Decrease your FPT |
| Speed to low | Increase your RPM’s |
| Excessive depth of cut | Decrease your RDOC |
| Tool overhang excessive | Use shortest length tool, shortest loc & reduce overhang from tool holder. Depths >4xDia. should move towards a reduced neck tool strategy. |
| Workpiece Rigidity | Workpiece must be 100% secure, the slightest movement (even unseen) will affect tool performance. |
| Excessive tool runout | Runout (TIR) should be measured at the corner of the tool once the tool is in the holder and in the machine spindle. Our tools require a maximum of .0005 TIR, for maximum tool life. |
| Hand ground shank flats | Hand ground shank flats or Weldon flats induce tool runout and cause premature failure. |
| Not enough shank contact | Imperative to have 1.5 -to- 2.0 x Dia. of shank inside tool holder for maximum holding strength. |
| Part Entry | Reduce feedrate by 50% at part entry and until tool is 100% engaged into material. |
| Milling Strategy | Review tool path and ensure there are no arbitrary moves, 90-degree corner movements, and any toolpaths that prevent constant radial engagement of the tool or climb milling situations. |
| Calculate Tool Change Intervals | Once you have determined tool life on a new tool, it’s good practice to calculate 80-90% of that time and incorporate it as a “safe” tool replacement window. |
Excessive Flank Wear
| New or reground tool | Non-Factory Reground tools create unknown variable(s) |
| Speed to high | Reduce your cutting speed (RPM) |
| Feed to low | Very common to be too light here, rubbing the tool, so Increase your feed per tooth (FPT) |
| Depth of cut too light | Increase your depth of cut (RDOC), but of course this may require lowering your FPT per chip thinning theory. |
| Tool Coating | Ensure your utilizing the right tool coating for the material. |
| Workpiece Rigidity | Workpiece must be 100% secure, the slightest movement (even unseen) will affect tool performance |
| Wrong cutting parameters for hardness | Know the Rockwell hardness of your workpiece, Speeds n feeds are adjusted to the hardness the tool is cutting. |
| Excessive tool runout | Runout (TIR) should be measured at the corner of the tool once the tool is in the holder and in the machine spindle. Our tools require a maximum of .0005 TIR, for maximum tool life. |
| Recutting chips | Ensure coolant spray is directed with tool rotation and chip flight direction. |
| Low Flute count | Increase your flute count helping to broaden the wear/load on a larger number of flutes. |
| Incorrect primary relief for material | Tools have radial relief to lower friction, if its too high for a harder material flank wear will propegate swiftly. Ensure tool is recommended for your material. |
Excessive Corner Wear
| New or reground tool | Non-Factory Reground tools create unknown variable(s) |
| No tool radius used | Also utilize a corner radius when possible, this strengthens the corner of the tool and increases tool life. |
| Low depth of cut | Depth of cut is not meeting or exceeding size of the corner radius which puts pressure on only a select portion of the corner radius, causing stress points on tool corner. |
| Speed too high | Lower your cutting speed (RPM) |
| Wrong cutting parameters for hardness | Know the Rockwell hardness of your workpiece, Speeds n feeds are adjusted to the hardness the tool is cutting. |
| Excessive tool runout | Runout (TIR) should be measured at the corner of the tool once the tool is in the holder and in the machine spindle. Our tools require a maximum of .0005 TIR, for maximum tool life. |
| Not enough shank contact | Imperative to have 1.5 -to- 2.0 x Dia. of shank inside tool holder for maximum holding strength. |
| Workpiece Rigidity | Workpiece must be 100% secure, the slightest movement (even unseen) will affect tool performance. |
| Slower Helix | Reduce your helix angle if possible, as this will lower the rake/shear at the corner and provide a stronger corner. |
| Higher flute count | Increase the flute count helping to broaden the wear/load on a larger number of flutes. |
Chatter/Vibration
| New or reground tool | Non-Factory Reground tools create unknown variable(s) |
| Speed to high | Reduce your cutting speed (RPM) |
| Variable pitch tooling | Utilize our variable pitch tooling when applicable, as this will help to reduce or eliminate the harmonic signature that chatter develops from. |
| Feed to low | Very common to be too light here(Hence: rubbing the tool), so increase your feed per tooth (FPT). |
| Tool not stabilized | Either increase your FPT and/or your RDOC to help stabilize the cutter in the cut. |
| Workpiece rigidity | Workpiece must be 100% secure, the slightest movement (even unseen) will affect tool performance. |
| Not enough shank contact | Imperative to have 1.5 -to- 2.0 x Dia. of shank inside tool holder for maximum holding strength. |
| Tool Holder rigidity | Critical to have a very accurate tool holder, that also utilizes full shank contact & maximum holding strength. |
| Excessive tool runout | Runout (TIR) should be measured at the corner of the tool once the tool is in the holder and in the machine spindle. Our tools require a maximum of .0005 TIR, for maximum tool life. |
| Too much tool contact engagement | This is the amount of contact the tool is experiencing while in the cut, reduce your RDOC and this measurement will decrease. |
Chip Congestion
| New or reground tool | Non-Factory Reground tools create unknown variable(s) |
| Chip Size Unmanageable | Utilize our chip breaker tools. Look in our catalog (pgs. 6-9) to see our selections. These will usually break chips to 1/2 the length your experiencing now. |
| Too high flute count | Lower the flute count on your tool to open up chip evacuation room. |
| Feed too high | Decrease your FPT |
| Too heavy RDOC | Lower your RDOC but remember you may need to increase your FPT to accommodate proper chip thinning theory. |
| Proper coolant flush | Not too much and not too little. Theres a fine line here to ensure your providing enough coolant flush but not overdoing it (as it can create a vortex effect around the tool). Also ensure the lines are in the direction of the chip flight direction, and not spraying into it. |
Tool Deflection
| New or reground tool | Non-Factory Reground tools create unknown variable(s) |
| Tool overhang excessive | Use shortest length tool, shortest loc & reduce overhang from tool holder. Depths >4xD should move towards a reduced neck tool strategy. |
| Increase flute count | Increasing your flute count, increases the core diameter of the tool lessening tool deflection. Caution, as this also creates more tool contact with wall. |
| Tool heavy of a depth of cut | Lighten up the RDOC, but never reach lower than 3% of tool diameter as this will induce tool rubbing. |
| Too thin of a chip | Increase your FPT, per chip thinning theory and overcome possible tool rubbing conditions. |
| Custom Geometry | As a custom tool manufacturer we can look at the exact material your cutting and design a custom tool that will be freer cutting to lessen deflection. |
| Tool runout excessive | Runout (TIR) should be measured at the corner of the tool once the tool is in the holder and in the machine spindle. Our tools require a maximum of .0005 TIR, for maximum tool life. |
| Wall/floor contact | Dual contact can institute tool deflection, when finishing walls good practice to raise tool .010 above floor then come back to blend transition. |
Poor Surface Finish (wall)
| New or reground tool | Non-Factory Reground tools create unknown variable(s) |
| Speed to low | Increase your RPM’s |
| Feed too high | Decrease your FPT, but always maintain chip thinning procedures to avoid tool rubbing. |
| RDOC too low | In some cases too light of a RDOC can affect surface finish, might be an option to increase your RDOC. 3-5% of diameter is a good starting point. |
| Too high surface contact | Lessen the flute count as this will lower your tool-to-part contact increasing your finish. In steels 5-flutes is a great middle ground for a good finisher. High walls might require higher number of flutes due to the increase of core strength in tool. |
| Too low coolant % | Increase the proportion of mixture, going to a 12-13% concentration will contribute to a better surface finish. |
| Built up edge | As seen on the cutting edges, increase your FPT, utilize proper coatings and check your coolant strategy in order to lower the BUE the tool is experiencing. |
Poor Surface Finish (floor)
| New or reground tool | Non-Factory Reground tools create unknown variable(s) |
| No corner radius | Utilize tools with a corner radius size that is 6-10% of diameter |
| Speed to low | Increase your RPM’s |
| Feed too high | Decrease your FPT, but always maintain chip thinning procedures to avoid tool rubbing. |
| RDOC too low | In some cases too light of a RDOC can affect surface finish, might be an option to increase your RDOC, with 5% of diameter as a good starting point. |
| No dish on end of tool | Good floor finishing requires dish (or end concavity) at the end of the tool. This allows for freer cutting and proper end geometry chip evacuation. |
| Too low coolant % | Increase the proportion of mixture, going to a 12-13% concentration will contribute to a better surface finish. |
| Wiper flats | Wiper flats on Non-ferrous tooling can help with more of a burnishing effect and increased part finish on floors. Corner radius tools have this effect as well. |
Built-Up Edge (BUE)
| New or reground tool | Non-Factory Reground tools create unknown variable(s) |
| Chip welding to OD of tool/cutting edge | Utilize proper tool coating for material your cutting |
| Feed to low | Increase your FPT |
| Speed to low | Increase your RPM’s |
| Proper coolant flush | Not too much and not too little. There’s a fine line here to ensure your providing enough coolant flush but not overdoing it (as it can create a vortex effect around the tool). Also ensure the lines are in the direction of the chip flight direction, and not spraying into it. |
| Too low coolant % | Increase the proportion of mixture, going to a 12-13% concentration will contribute to a better surface finish. |
| Milling strategy | Ensure your climb milling |
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