The ball-nose style end mill is designed specifically for 3D milling and wall-to-floor finishing with a large radius. The ball-nose features the same faceted relief along the outer diameter of the cutting edge and rippled relief in the ball-nose section. Let’s dive right into the material.
First, let's take a few passes along this block of 4140 steel in order to create a typical profiling application along the side.
Moving on to the other side of the block, let's rough out a contour by doing some shoulder milling.
After we get the shape of the contour roughed out, we're going to show the wall-to-floor finishing capabilities of the ball-nose here on this part of the block by running it along the walls of this contour. After that, we're going to take a few more passes. Perpendicular to the previous passes, utilizing the five-axis capabilities of this machine.
We'll start by semi-finishing at a speed of 330 meters per minute and a feed per tooth of 0.25 millimeters.
Then we'll move on to fine finishing at the same speed, but with a feed per tooth of 0.132 millimeters.
Notice the three different surface finishes here on the profile?
We are running this finishing pass at a speed of 150 meters per minute and a feed per tooth of 0.087 millimeters.
For this application, we're using the long version of the HARVI I TE ball-nose. This tool measures greater than 3xD on the diameter-to-length ratio which makes this cut even more challenging
All right let's move on to the fun stuff. We're going to drill a hole and then open up a pocket through circular interpolation. After that, we'll really take advantage of the tool’s capabilities and helically machine a cone into the block.
This next part you've seen us do before. We're doing the famous HARVI I TE bunny hops. This time we're taking three paths. Each path being offset slightly to simulate various tilting angles. With that, the tool is constantly engaged with different areas of the ball-nose section.
You can never go wrong with a classic cut. So, we're going to take a 1.5xD full slot here. We're running this slot at a speed of 130 meters per minute and a feed per tooth of .058 millimeters.
Now we're doing full radial engagement with two different ramping angles: One being aggressive at 30 degrees and the other being even more aggressive at 45 degrees. Just like the full slot, this would normally not be possible with a typical ball-nose style end mill.
Finally, we'll finish the HARVI I TE ball-nose demo with the bobsled cuts. These are 2xD slots with a tilting angle of 40 degrees. Look at how the HARVI I TE ball-nose is hogging the chips out. Throughout the slot, we're taking full advantage of the five-axis machine to achieve this shape. After the bobsled cuts we'll rough away the material to make sure there's enough space for the tool and adapter, and then finalize the work piece with a few finishing passes along the sides.
