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!