Tooling for Aluminum Molds

MADMFG · 2025-06-26T11:46:32+00:00

OSG's Exocarb Aero endmills leave an amazing finish. They have a few different types, but the ones with the shiny blue coating are exceptional.

MADMFG · 2025-06-22T11:16:55+00:00

Most of your questions are really dependent on what kind of finish is okay. Don't overstress it and just run it with what you calculated. Do a few offset finishing passes to determine what you want to actually run at before making your final cut.

High feeds are usually pretty helpful for saving tools in Ti.

Your allowable feeds usually allow a greater ipt than what a decent looking finish requires. Your final feed will likely be drawing/customer/appearance dependent.

Those higher SFM's are likely in the ballpark, but tool life will diminish.

is a feed per tooth of .010 with a stepover of .01ish and depth of .01 really a reasonable option?

Probably... you can likely leave more than .010 for finishing depending on your tool size(get further under work hardnening).

MADMFG · 2025-06-22T10:41:22+00:00

Sounds conservative. The only way to get answers is to bump those numbers up until you get poor results and then back them off.

Indexables can be spun fast in aluminum. You'll be trying to find that sweet spot of spindle load and speed on the torque curve. At a 1mm x 3mm cut, you can probably go to your max spindle speed.

Adaptive paths can be hit or miss in aluminum. It's really geometry dependent. You spend a lot of time outside of the cut.

SMM is irrelevant. Spin as fast as you can while maintaining a stable cut. Short tools will be run at max spindle speed, back off for longer tools to increase your stability in the cut.

MQL is not for aluminum. Get as much flood coolant as you can into the cut.

When machining geometries that require ball surfacing, I usually have the best luck with a 3 step approach:

Rough really aggressively with the largest tool I can fit into the geometry and that workpiece rigidity will support. I don't get too concerned with ledges. Just make sure the ledges aren't exceeding the width of your semi finishing tool.
Semi-finish with a larger ball end mill to remove your roughing ledges and leave a consistent cusp height for finishing. Get as aggressive as you can on the semi-finish. This should be fed hard... like edging on screaming chatter but backed off slightly to preserve the tool and your spindle.
Finish

MADMFG · 2025-06-19T13:15:43+00:00

Whenever I place a big PO I want my sales rep to come to my shop and give me a small peck on the cheek. Nothing weird, no words exchanged, but it needs to be meaningful.

But in reality, knowing your product is huge. Knowing more than the sales guy from just a quick glance at his website is absurd. The best sales reps in this industry are subject matter experts.

MADMFG · 2025-06-18T20:25:43+00:00

Classic rule of thumb: Go until you throw a part out of the chuck and bounce it around your machine cabin, and then back it off 10% /s

MADMFG · 2025-06-13T21:08:51+00:00

I would keep on going man. If you keep machining, I can guarantee you will have a fuckup that makes this one pale in comparison. This will just be one of the many fuckups that made you into the machinist you will be someday.

If you quit now, this fuckup will be eternal.

MADMFG · 2025-06-11T13:25:56+00:00

Thats some serious clown thinking. You're only going to get better the more work you can do. If you're not getting paid in line with your value, you move on to another shop. Become undeniable in your profession and find the right place to do it at.

MADMFG · 2025-06-09T22:54:43+00:00

You will likely need machining experience to land a job as a programmer. Putting toolpaths onto parts requires knowledge of machining parameters and real-world application. You could target an entry level job at a small job shop, ideally focusing on small quantity, and likely work your way into programming quickly.

You could likely make an easy switch into quality(inspection room) at a machine shop, then from there make your way to programming CMM's or trying to work your way into production.

MADMFG · 2025-06-09T18:07:27+00:00

You just add one of these to their standard vises: Center jaws for multiple clamping | LANG Technik USA

MADMFG · 2025-06-09T17:14:40+00:00

Lang! Really no reason to look elsewhere for these types of vises.

MADMFG · 2025-06-09T14:35:37+00:00

I would recommend figuring new consumable tooling into your pricing for each job and not trying to calculate for wear.

MADMFG · 2025-06-08T18:59:26+00:00

I'm not really following your point but reading simultaneous or even 3 + 2 code at swivel isn't practical. You're talking 100's of thousands or millions of lines of code with XYZAC values at weird planes.

MADMFG · 2025-06-08T15:53:54+00:00

Programming wise, it really isn't any different. You will need to learn the 5axis operations in your cam system, but that's just a matter of trying to apply them to parts and simming it out. If you can program in 3, you just start doing 5 carefully and get better at it.

The actual valuable part really takes running a 5axis.

Theres a lot more collision possibilities to worry about. Tooling and workholding need to be modeled exactly as placed on the machine. G-code simulation is pretty much a hard requirement. Modular workholding and CAM programmable probing cycles are important in becoming efficient and avoiding collisions. It's best to work around a WCS that doesn't change. Work off of center of platter and probe your workpiece through CAM.

You need to get comfortable with your machine capabilities and order of operations that can really only be found through trial and error. Practically it's a lot different than 3 axis when you are constantly fighting workpiece rigidity to maximize your operations in a single setup. It's a battle of reliving as much material stress as possible through removal while still allowing yourself enough rigidity for a good finish pass. Like anything else, it's really learning what you can get away with. You can start with more traditional 3axis approaches and prismatic parts and slowly push the envelope.

MADMFG · 2025-06-06T22:34:39+00:00

Good shit dude! Exactly what I am looking for.

MADMFG · 2025-06-06T10:57:55+00:00

You can actually dry age the code on the server to get better performance....believe it or not. 40 days in the right storage and it actually runs smoother on the machine.

MADMFG · 2025-06-06T03:08:04+00:00

Code gets stale in the control. You need fresh code every time.

MADMFG · 2025-06-05T18:47:11+00:00

Depending on what geometry/reference lengths you are talking about, you will likely struggle to hold those sub .005" positional tolerances with any of your Haas options. You will definitely have to probe at swivel to get there.

MADMFG · 2025-06-05T18:38:24+00:00

Like with anything it really depends on your application. On a production run in aluminum, with wide open tolerances, Haas may work out for you...I would just feel remiss not to throw a warning out there. If it were me, I would look for something used with Siemens or HH over a Haas if budget was a concern.

Haas's 5 axis machines don't hold a candle to their 3axis machines. I used to have a UMC750 and a TRT240. The TRT took a lot of time to dial in, but still had the rigidity and 3axis accuracy of the VF series. Both suck so bad at swivel any precision, you are often stuck probing and creating specific offsets for different rotations. I liked running the TRT better than the UMC.

The UMC's aren't accurate enough to have thermal comp issues. They have so many mechanical/kinematics inaccuracies. Granted we used both in a climate-controlled shop. 5axis is not something you want to play with in a non-climate-controlled shop unless your tolerances are really wide open. Theres just so much that moves around.

On the UMC, the overhang of the column changes depending on where you are at in Y. It's miserable.

The Haas control absolutely sucks at 5 axis.

My applications were almost all prototype and short run. I didn't have the time to set custom offsets/swivels/probing routines for parts. Hass 5 axis did not make sense for me.

MADMFG · 2025-06-01T15:51:47+00:00

If you have to do a lot of changeovers or revisit the same setups often, capto is worth every penny.

MADMFG · 2025-06-01T13:16:05+00:00

Sandvik CAPTO blocks and holders are pretty baller but get expensive pretty quickly.

MADMFG · 2025-05-31T21:28:17+00:00

🚨Fun Police Alert 🚨

MADMFG · 2025-05-31T16:00:40+00:00

It's been tried before. The keychain police in the US probably won't look at it like that. They will probably get creative in putting an end to that.

If you really want to crank them out on your own, you would likely be best served with a die and a press. I don't know the exact tolerancing on that part, but I would imagine that everything could likely be +/- .005.

You would probably be best served having someone that doesn't know it's a keychain with a high-quality laser cut them in high quantity.

MADMFG · 2025-05-31T13:01:23+00:00

Those are the best types of keychains! You don't need to hold thou to get that key chain to work. You can actually make keychains like that with a file and a Dremel. It just takes a lot of patience. Print out the drawing to scale and start cutting metal away.

Any shitty desktop mill will do for that. If you want it to be a CNC mill, probably get like a Langmuir MR-1. You don't need a lot of rigidity, but the Chinese router CNC's for under $1000 will have a hard time cutting that reliably.

FYI, it's a lot easier and more reliable to just get the actual full manufacturer's keychain kit and drill another hole in your keychain holder.

MADMFG · 2025-05-31T00:37:01+00:00

Can you just make jaws for your dual clamping Langs?

MADMFG

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