Tried slowing my feed rate to get a better surface finish on aluminum. Got the opposite result.

I was running some 6061 parts yesterday and the finish was coming out kinda rough. Figured I'd drop my feed from 30 IPM down to 15 IPM to let the cutter take lighter cuts. Ngl it actually made the finish way worse. Turns out at that lower feed I was rubbing instead of cutting. Learned that you gotta keep chip load right or the tool just skids across. Has anyone else had better luck bumping feed up instead of down for finish passes?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jordan24d ago

Yeah I had the same thing happen with 7075 and cranking the feed up to 40 IPM actually fixed it for me.

carr.elliot24d ago

Yeah I hear you on that @the_jordan, but one thing nobody's talking about is your toolholder. A lot of the chatter issues with 7075 come from cheap ER collets letting the tool slip just a tiny bit at higher feeds. I swapped to a solid shrink-fit holder and could push my feeds way higher than 40 IPM without that vibration coming back. Might be worth checking if your holders are gripping tight enough before chasing speeds.

hannahm3924d ago

6061 is a lot more forgiving than 7075 for sure. I usually run around 35-40 IPM with a good holder and it cleans up nice. What kind of toolholder are you running now?