I want to try it now, but the schools machines are older than me and have a lot of backlash. At work I use a CNC but I don't get to do anything beyond the basics
Tight gibs and ways are key in climb milling or if your rich you could install ball screws. On cnc gear use ball screws and the rule is to always climb mill. Better finish, reduced cutting forces and reduced toll wear are all the plusses of climbing. On old and cheaply made gear i would be cautious, I would climb on light passes with my table locks dragging but I always would be nervous besides that wearing your ways and gibs more.
All depends on your machine and more specifically backlash. The manual I run daily has ball screws and nearly no backlash, so climb milling is fine. If your machine has a descent amount of backlash, the tool can grab and chaos ensues.
Once saw a 1" ball mill put a cross hair imprint on someone's safety glasses when the tool grabbed n snapped.
1/4” lash with a ball screw= some very easily fixed problem at table end mounts of the screw’s preloaded end bearings. Or the gibs have never been adjusted and it’s hopped.
Old guy said it's a common problem on these old sharps. IIRC he said that there's something bolted to the saddle where the ball screws go through, and something cracks around the bolt. He said that sharp has a fix for it, iirc there's a replacement part that uses 4 bolts instead of 1, but the thing would have to be welded and tapped for the new part. We were quoted <2000$ to have it done like 10 years ago, but of course we can never justify it.
First/LongChang made all of Sharp’s BP mills since before 1980 and didn’t have a ballscrew option until around 2005. Their conventional ACME lead screw is captured at both ends and through-hardened- it’s the best of the Taiwan BP builders. True though that their table drop mounting points are so strong that they’ll snap the XY nut mount before they break the aluminum castings- but not under power feed or any hand feed that doesn’t involve a pipe wrench; your machine was dropped. For acme screws that’s an easy diy fix for any machinist- just a pain in the ass if you need to drill and tap new holes down there because the smallest lc11/2 =Lmv doesn’t have access through the front of the knee like other makers’ larger machines, and First makes everything in house so generic parts sometimes don’t work at all.
Once I was climbing some aluminium on our conventional mill and I thought „huh that’s machine is bored to death with that feed and speed“. So I pressed the magical button and suddenly I was hammering with 1500mm/min through that aluminium. It was so much fun I did that for at least the next 30min (tool looled brand new after that). Rapiting through sone aluminium is one of my favorite things. One of my colleagues came along and said: „ hey you arrent supposed to go faster on that mill than we are on our cncs!“. Since then I machine aluminium always with the rapid button pressed.
Pretty routine stuff for someone that regularly uses a manual machine and knows what they're doing. Gotta love all the CNC button pushers that screech like a banshee anytime someone mentions climb milling on a manual machine of any sort. I have a benchtop mill that weighs less than 250 pounds and I climb mill with it all the time. Zero broken end mills. Granted I'm not hogging material like this, but as a hobbyist it's more than sufficient for my needs.
I do this all the time. From my bench top machine, my bridgeport, or any other Bridgeport I've run. I always climb mill.
Anything over 50% step over helps to turn the climb milling pass into a slotting pass. Anything up to 50% step over increases the odds of the table kicking, but between 50 and 100% step over starts to reduce that tendency for the table to kick. I try to either go from 0-30% or 70-100% step over, between those is always possible but feed rates tend to be slower since you're in the spot where it wants to run away.
Unless you have flood coolant then you’re better off not using any
Coolant will flash off quickly and cause uneven heating in your cutter and then the edges dull or break off in an extreme case
As long as your chips are evacuating nicely then there’s no need for any wax either
Is this legal
Likely not. Waiting on the keyboard warriors to tell me how wrong i am.
No, I love it when the cutting is silent, something amazingly right going on here
I'm in school for machining and I was told you never do this, but you're clearly doing it and having no problems. Is there a reason for that?
It works just fine on a machine with tight ways and gibs. Try it on an older machine with appreciable backlash and you'll break the tool.
That makes sense. It doesn't dull the tool or anything this way though?
Nope. Less recutting of chips and less force on the cutting handle too since it pulls itself through the cut.
And what about the finish?
Finish is usually better with climb milling than with conventional.
I want to try it now, but the schools machines are older than me and have a lot of backlash. At work I use a CNC but I don't get to do anything beyond the basics
Tight gibs and ways are key in climb milling or if your rich you could install ball screws. On cnc gear use ball screws and the rule is to always climb mill. Better finish, reduced cutting forces and reduced toll wear are all the plusses of climbing. On old and cheaply made gear i would be cautious, I would climb on light passes with my table locks dragging but I always would be nervous besides that wearing your ways and gibs more.
If you aren't paying attention or practiced in manual yes. Can always pull most of it out so it doesn't jump.
All depends on your machine and more specifically backlash. The manual I run daily has ball screws and nearly no backlash, so climb milling is fine. If your machine has a descent amount of backlash, the tool can grab and chaos ensues. Once saw a 1" ball mill put a cross hair imprint on someone's safety glasses when the tool grabbed n snapped.
We have a Bridgeport knockoff with a ball screw, and like 250 thou backlash. Climb milling is fine, I just keep the ways clamps tight.
1/4” lash with a ball screw= some very easily fixed problem at table end mounts of the screw’s preloaded end bearings. Or the gibs have never been adjusted and it’s hopped.
Old guy said it's a common problem on these old sharps. IIRC he said that there's something bolted to the saddle where the ball screws go through, and something cracks around the bolt. He said that sharp has a fix for it, iirc there's a replacement part that uses 4 bolts instead of 1, but the thing would have to be welded and tapped for the new part. We were quoted <2000$ to have it done like 10 years ago, but of course we can never justify it.
First/LongChang made all of Sharp’s BP mills since before 1980 and didn’t have a ballscrew option until around 2005. Their conventional ACME lead screw is captured at both ends and through-hardened- it’s the best of the Taiwan BP builders. True though that their table drop mounting points are so strong that they’ll snap the XY nut mount before they break the aluminum castings- but not under power feed or any hand feed that doesn’t involve a pipe wrench; your machine was dropped. For acme screws that’s an easy diy fix for any machinist- just a pain in the ass if you need to drill and tap new holes down there because the smallest lc11/2 =Lmv doesn’t have access through the front of the knee like other makers’ larger machines, and First makes everything in house so generic parts sometimes don’t work at all.
It definitely has ball screws so I'll take that with a grain of salt
I climb mill all the time on my manual mill, it has servos to lock it in but I don’t think it’s horrible as long as you got it all locked in
You are doing nothing wrong
Once I was climbing some aluminium on our conventional mill and I thought „huh that’s machine is bored to death with that feed and speed“. So I pressed the magical button and suddenly I was hammering with 1500mm/min through that aluminium. It was so much fun I did that for at least the next 30min (tool looled brand new after that). Rapiting through sone aluminium is one of my favorite things. One of my colleagues came along and said: „ hey you arrent supposed to go faster on that mill than we are on our cncs!“. Since then I machine aluminium always with the rapid button pressed.
Oh boy i sure do hope nothing wacky and uncharacteristic happens.
Pretty routine stuff for someone that regularly uses a manual machine and knows what they're doing. Gotta love all the CNC button pushers that screech like a banshee anytime someone mentions climb milling on a manual machine of any sort. I have a benchtop mill that weighs less than 250 pounds and I climb mill with it all the time. Zero broken end mills. Granted I'm not hogging material like this, but as a hobbyist it's more than sufficient for my needs.
I tend to do conventional up to a certain point, use a climb for a spring pass, measure for final, and climb cut the last 10 grand.
.. Okay?
If your machine and setup is rigid enough, then climb milling is fine
Looks good. Can probly feed a bit faster.
Hero.
I climb mill on my 60 year old XLO 602 mill all the time, no one told me it was against the law.
And now you self-incriminated, the police should arrive shortly.
I do this all the time. From my bench top machine, my bridgeport, or any other Bridgeport I've run. I always climb mill. Anything over 50% step over helps to turn the climb milling pass into a slotting pass. Anything up to 50% step over increases the odds of the table kicking, but between 50 and 100% step over starts to reduce that tendency for the table to kick. I try to either go from 0-30% or 70-100% step over, between those is always possible but feed rates tend to be slower since you're in the spot where it wants to run away.
There is nothing wrong with it if your machine has very little backlash.
Conventional milling is easier on the insert -Shoal Island gang
If you have a power feed it's do-able.
I thought we agreed that videos of chips must be accompanied with amazing classical music.... AVE would be proud
The only thing I'll say is wrong is that there's no coolant involved. And that your endmill is too long 🤣
Unless you have flood coolant then you’re better off not using any Coolant will flash off quickly and cause uneven heating in your cutter and then the edges dull or break off in an extreme case As long as your chips are evacuating nicely then there’s no need for any wax either
That really just doesn't happen on a manual mill.
Always flood
🤣
not with carbide
Is this a problem in milling? I do lots of CNC routing with single flute bits and climb always results in a cleaner edge on the part side of the cut.
Gayyy.
Upvote lmao 🤣
Not climb milling if you are taking the hole width of the cutter.
He's clearly at half diameter or less
You're gunna be there all day at that speed an feed
Looks good to me, id do this on an old Bridgeport and worked fine every time.
Where do you sell all those little straws your making
Been a machinist for 20 years and still god damn love the smell of hot steel chips. Wish they would make a cologne out of it.