If you’re ready to introduce high-speed machining to your business, here are some key considerations.
High speed machining combines fewer cutting cycles with high spindle speeds and feeds to achieve extremely high metal removal rates, helping to shorten machining cycles, extend tool life and improve workshop productivity.
Tag Team Manufacturing pointed out that machinists use high-speed machining to make their jobs faster and easier. Faster productivity means that machine tools can produce more parts in less time.
It is almost impossible to achieve these “victories” with larger diameter cutting tools and slower old technologies – this reality has led more and more companies to incorporate high-speed CNC machine tools and cutting tools into their operations.
Grainger Metalworking Specialist Justin Hagerty said: “As technology develops, machine tools can now perform high-speed machining in multiple axes simultaneously. HSM allows workshops to use high spindle speeds and feeds, combined with multi-axis machine tools for smaller, faster cuts. “.
This helps to reduce overall cycle time, while allowing operators to do more work in less time. Hagerty says, “Typically, machine tools have two to three axes, but now we see five to seven axes. These new machine tools have smaller setup windows, shorter machining times, and can perform most key machining operations.
Dr Carl Salmon, a German inventor, invented high-speed machining in the 1920s. When the inventor realised that for a particular workpiece metal, the heat generated at the cutting tool/workpiece interface peaked at a critical spindle speed, HSM was born.
High-speed machining is used to produce moulds with complex core and cavity geometries, as well as structural components in the aerospace industry. It is a process that focuses on fast, but also very light, low-pressure cutting. These fast cutting methods can greatly improve material removal efficiency.
Front Panel Express points out that faster, more efficient machine tools and processors are constantly surpassing each other. As a result, machine tool manufacturers are looking for new ways of making tools and processes more productive.
One major benefit is longer tool life, as both machine tools and cutting tools experience significantly lower loads. This means that the load on the machine tool itself is far less, and tool wear is not as severe as in traditional machining,” he says.
Due to the increased speed and feed rate used in high-speed machining, the material is cut so quickly that little heat is transferred during the process. This helps to minimise cycle times (as less time is required for cooling and hardening) and also reduces shop emissions.
