machining titanium?

[unterhausen]

I am currently surface grinding commercially pure titanium, and it has occurred to me that I could hog off some material with a mill before I start grinding. I only need to take off .010 or less. I know ti can get exciting if you do it wrong, but this seems like it might not be such a big deal. Any ideas about inserts for interrupted cuts? I would be using a face mill

 

[precisionworks]

CP titanium (aka Grade 2) is a breeze to machine compared to Ti-6-4. As with all titanium alloys you'll want to run a pretty slow sfpm combined with a high rate of feed. Look in the machining section of Machinery's Handbook & there's not a section for milling titanium so go to a similar material like 316SS. 316 mills at 70 sfpm using coated carbide inserts & Grade 2 runs at close to the same speed - that's 133 rpm on a 2" tool. If coolant is not an option be sure to use use a continuous air blast to blow away the chips - that eliminates recutting the hardened chips which destroys tooling.

Any ideas about inserts for interrupted cuts? I would be using a face mill

All the big insert makers have something that will work for that. Contact Iscar, Sandvik, etc. for a recommendation. MSC tech support is really good & a phone call will get your order started.


You may want to add your question on to this existing thread: Machining titanium 6Al-4V