HSM is kind of amazing, and scary.

General CNC CNC Routers
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HSM is kind of amazing, and scary. I highly recommend you give it a go.

This is running at 24000 RPM, 3.5mm DOC, 5% stepover on an adaptive clearing path with a 3degree helix entry all at 2300mm/min feed. I setup the path in Solidworks using HSMXpress. The bit is a 45 degree helix Destiny Viper 1/4" 2 Flute bit.

Got a little bit of chatter in my two usual places (so weird, definitely a machine setup issue right?), the entry is a little agressive so I may back that off. Also chip clearance with WD-40 is an issue, but doesn’t seem to affect the finish on the cut much as long as I keep it properly lubricated.

But overall I think this is actually pretty good and acceptable, and cuts the machining time of this pocket from 15mins to 3.5 which is nothing to scoff at.

Here’s a photo of the finished cut:

Google Photos

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First real piece came out pretty good. But my hole was very slightly oversized at the top so the bearing has some wiggle so this one is a bust.

But +1 for HSM toolpaths and the glue and masking tape hold down method!

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Awesome! Looks somewhat similar to what I get from helical drill in estlcam. Great job having your machine tuned in enough to run in aluminum that fast

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Hey Ben sounds like the spindle slowed a bit in the first cut? Just the sound of the video or purposeful?

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@Brandon_Satterfield that was me just messing with RPM to see if I could tune out that tiny bit of chatter, I couldn’t, so I just left it as is. Oddly enough as it gets deeper the chatter tends to disappear and it doesn’t leave any visible marks anyway so I’m happy with it for now.