Power requirement for carbide milling in CRS

Tried the TaeguTec Power Calculator to estimate the shaft power required for the 12mm V7 Mill cutter I plan to use for machining the bracket. My machine has only 3kW available and some of these cutters are designed to shift some serious metal on serious machines.

The cutters I got are the EMC85907 ie:

• 12mm dia
• 14mm flutes
• 11mm shank (between flutes and body)
• 12mm dia body
• 40mm cutting depth
• 93mm O/A length
• Weldon shank, to suit my toolholders

The recommended cutting data looks like this:

So, into the calculator, assuming 3000rpm, 12mm axial DOC, 3mm (25%) optimal load, 0.04mm feed per tooth, low carbon steel:

Suggests a power requirement (at the tool) of around 1.1kW, which sounds workable. Got a similar (1.2kW) value from the Sandvik Coromant app on my iPhone.

The tools arrived those morning, along with some ISO40 toolholders - these are 15krpm holders at £16.50 each. Good price - funny to see people trying to flog used toolholders for more than this!

The 12mm dia cutters have a 14mm length of cutting flutes and a reduced diameter (11mm) shank that extends to 40mm from the end of the tool. So you can cut to a depth of 40mm - but only 14mm at a time. I really wouldn't want to attempt a full depth (36mm in my case) finishing pass anyway.

Let's get it set up....

Regenerate the toolpaths with the new tool dimensions and feedrates. More stepdowns with this more realistic tool:

The machine time is just over 13 minutes plus tool changes.