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Speeds and Feeds

Running the correct Speeds and Feeds or Parameters is the most important aspect in getting the best tool life possible in all cutting tools so we have made it our mission to provide as much info as possible on that for you.  You can find parameters for most of our tools in our technical section and along with it we have created a 2 page Speed and Feed Cheat Sheet you can view or print out to have a quick reference for most common Milling and Turning applications, here is a link to it:

ToolHIT Speed and Feed Cheat Sheet

In our parameter sheet we have parameters for End Mills, Carbide Drills (no coolant thru), HSS/Cobalt Drills, Spade Drills, Cut Taps, Form Taps, Thread Mills, Turning Inserts, Cutoff/Grooving Inserts as well as Our Top Indexable End Mills and Face Mills.  In it we covered the materials we see the most often: Low Carbon Steel (1018), Alloy Steel (4140), Stainless Steel (300 Series) and Aluminum (6061).  If you don't see your tool or material on there visit our technical page and we will have the parameters there. Here a few quick notes:

• These are starting parameters, use your own discretion based on the rigidity of your workholding, toolholding and machine for final parameters (can change +/- 25% of what is listed based on rigidity).
• Depth of Cut (DOC) is extremely important in machining and the biggest issue we see is too light of a depth of cut causing the tool to rub instead of cut.  
• For End Mills we recommend at least a 4% stepover (or Radial DOC) to allow the end mill to cut. If you are slotting then you need to be on the low end of the feed rate and take a slot depth of half the tool diameter. If you are roughing (20%-35% stepover) then you will want to take 50% to 100% of the flute length Axially and run at the middle to high end of the feed rate.
• For Turning Applications we recommend taking a depth of cut larger than the corner radius of the insert (also every insert has a DOC Range, make sure yours falls within the range to get the most out of the insert. At the top of our turning insert page we have chipbreaker selection link to pick the correct chipbreaker.

If you have any questions or difficult applications let us know and we can help!

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First Post/Rotary Toolholder Selection

Welcome to ToolHIT!  It is our goal to be your top choice for Cutting Tools and we would like to do this by offering top quality tooling options as well as an easy way to order online.  We also have a lot of industry experience in CNC Machining and would like to be a technical resource for you, so please contact us if you have any tough applications or any general questions.  Also, we welcome your feedback, if you would like to see any improvements to our site let us know. With these blogs it is our goal to share what we have learned and can hopefully help you current or future applications or tooling selection.

For our first blog we'd like to go thru Rotary Toolholder of CNC Mill Toolholder selection based on application.  The correct CNC Toolholder can make a huge difference in tool life as well as ability to hold tolerances.  Here is a quick cheat sheet we put together based on your application:

Drilling/Reaming:

• The ER Collet Chuck is our First Choice for all Drilling and Reaming Applications and can also be used for Thread Milling, Tapping and Light Milling applications.  The Holders are held to .0001" Runout (or TIR) and the ER Collets come standard with .0004" Runout (or TIR) with the option to get Ultra Precision Collets wth .0002" Runout (or TIR).
• The MX or VX Holders are a Higher Performance option for Drilling, Reaming, Thread Milling and Light Milling.  The Holders are held to .0001" Runout (or TIR) and the Collets also have .0001" Runout (or TIR) giving you the best performance for tight tolerance holes.

Milling (End Mills):

• An End Mill Holder is an economical choice when roughing with an End Mill.  The set screw on the End Mill Holder gives you high holding power but it also naturally adds runout to the tool which will effect tool life and tolerances. If your tolerances are not tight then this is the Holder to go with.
• A Milling Chuck will give you the holding power of an End Mill Holder with the runout of a Collet Chuck.  The strong holding power with the .0002" runout at 4" out makes a Milling Chuck one of the top options for roughing and finishing applications for 1/2" Diameter to 1" Diameter Tools.  Milling Chucks are on size to hold 3/4" or 1" Diameter Tools and offer the strongest holding power on size.  You can also use collets with it but you do lose holding power with collets, especially when you get under 1/2" in our experience.  In that case either a VX Chuck or a Hydraulic Chuck is the way to go for tools 1/8" to 7/16".

More Blogs to come, contact us with any questions!