Can I get tips on hogging metal?

[shild]

Trying to do some heavy hogging but not making good progress. Do I want the biggest 4 flute endmill I have choked up as much as I can in the collet? Should I traditional mill or climb mill? Not sure if it's better to do a full depth cut with many light passes or multiple partial depth cuts with heavier passes.

[Russ Hanscom]

Probably depends a lot on the machine you are using, size of the mill, smooth or corn cobb type mill,... More details may allow someone to make an educated suggestion. I have a very solid Gorton mill and can trip the motor overloads on heavy cuts. You may have a different set of operating conditions.

[shild]

Probably depends a lot on the machine you are using, size of the mill, smooth or corn cobb type mill,... More details may allow someone to make an educated suggestion. I have a very solid Gorton mill and can trip the motor overloads on heavy cuts. You may have a different set of operating conditions.

My mill isn't too heavy. I have an X3 and this Craftsman angle vise is the only vise I have at the moment.

[rmac]

Multiple partial depth cuts will wear out just the tip of your end mill, while light full depth cuts will wear the cutter more evenly. As Russ said, though, there are lots of other things to consider.

Don't forget that sawing and drilling are generally faster ways to remove material than milling. (Drill bits are easier to sharpen than end mills, too!) So often it makes sense to saw and/or drill away what you can before you ever get near the milling machine.

-- Russ

[NP317]

When needing to make heavy cuts I use Roughing mill cutters.
They required much less power to cut, due to their spiral cutting grooves.
RussN

roughing cutters.jpg (16 KiB) Viewed 3636 times

[JimF]

What material ?

[SteveM]

Given the rigidity of your mill and your vise, the "hogging limit" for your setup is MUCH lower than other milling machines.

More lighter passes is going to be the way to go. Maybe some heavier passes in the beginning, but when things start chattering, you are only making things worse.

Given the vise you are using, be sure that the cutting forces are going towards the fixed jaw - that's the strongest direction. If you mill sideways, the work could shift or even come out. If you mill towards the moving jaw, well, lets just say that the moving jaw is the weakest part of the vise.

Also the vise you are using, while convenient, sticks up a lot, giving it a lot of leverage on the table. Get a milling machine vise for general use and use that tilting one when you actually need to tilt something. The extra height on that vise also limits how tall a work piece you can put on the machine,

A Kurt is always a good choice in a vise, but with the size of your mill, the cheapest Kurt (6") on the used market is going to be too big. The 3" Kurts can go for a lot of money, but you might find a D-40 for a reasonable price. Another option would be an import from a reputable company, as opposed to some generic, about which horror stories abound. I think there has been discussion here and there have been some suggestions, so do a search.

If you are hogging aluminum, a 2-flute cutter will work better, as there is more space for the chips. You won't be hogging steel at a depth to need the room for chips.

Hogging mills, as Russ suggests, may get you more material removal and keep cutting forces within your limits.

Also, whatever you do - new end mills. Sharp end mills are SO much more important on lightweight machines to keep the forces down. I was using a used end mill that I thought was sharp, switched to a new one and it was like night and day.

When I have needed to remove a large chunk off a corner, I have used a slitting saw in two orientations to make saw cuts and remove the material, just like you would do on a table saw.

Steve

[tornitore45]

First saw before you mill
Second consider drilling as the faster cheaper metal removal method
Third use a roughing end mill Carbide is about mandatory for steel on the X3 mill
Fourth do not even think of climb milling when roughing
I have the same mill and it does not like much side cutting, is a light machine but has always delivered.