How to Extend Tools Life in CNC Machining Operation

Every day, we need to produce a variety of different geometric shapes metal and plastic machined parts. They have been widely used in different industries. Such as: medical, automotive, aerospace and electronic device etc.

Till now, we’re always proud to machined a precision & high quality products to our global customers, whether you ever considered why they could be so perfectly worked out, just because of good & skilled operators and advance equipment. Of course, they’re crucial for processing a high quality products, even is essential for a professional cnc machining manufacturer. At the same time, whether you have considered that good tool is also same important to a machining suppliers, which is basis of CNC machining operation.

A good tool not only can machining precision& high quality products, and also has high hardness and wear resistance, the necessary bending strength and good manufacturability, and not easy to be deformed, Of course, we also need to further prevent more issues caused before CNC program and production.

Tips for protect and extend tools life in cnc machining operation

The tools wear reasons

Hard point wear

Due to the workpiece material contains hard points( such as : carbide, nitride and oxides) and many debris of the debris tumor, which can cause wear and tear on the surface of the cutter. The high speed steel tool wear is more obvious relative to hard alloy cutter. At the cutting speed, all of the cutter has hard point wear, so it’s also the main reason for the wear of low speed cutting tool.

Adhesive wear

Adhesion refers to the phenomenon of “cold welding” cause by the tool and workpiece material under sufficient pressure and high temperature, which is the result adsorption of fresh surface atoms on the friction surface. When this adhesive-point is torn and removed by the relative motion, and if the fracture of the bonding point occurs on the tool side, it will cause the tool wear.

The cutting temperature is the main factor affection the adhesive wear. The higher the cutting temperature, the more serious the adhesive wear.

Oxidizing wear

Under a certain cutting temperature, the cutting tool material and the surrounding media will cause the chemical ingredients, and in the form a layer low hardness compounds on the surface of the tools and was taken away by chip, and speeding up the tool wear, it’s called as chemical wear. And this is one of the main reasons that diamond tools can’t cut black metal in air.

How to protect and extend the tool service life in the CNC machining operation

In fact, the tools wear with geometry angle, cutting force, cutting heat and cutting amounts of these factors relations, so the durability and service life of the cutter can be extended by human subjective effort.

Improved tool geometry angle

Cutter angle and the blade shape will directly affect the changes of cutting force. Such as: the front angle increases, the chip is small in deformation; cutting light, the cutting force and heat will drop. On the premise of guarantee the knife has enough strength, we should try to take larger front angle and increase the length of the blade for cutting, thus to make the cutting heat relatively decentralized and the cutting temperature will also drop.

Choice reasonable cutting amounts

Cutting amounts will directly affect the durability of cutter, when cutting depth and feed is too larger, cutting force also will increase, so the tool wear is fast; when cutting speed is high, it will also speed the wear and tear between the tool and the workpiece. So the choice of rational cutting amounts will also extend the service life of cutting tools.

Use cooling lubricant

Cooling lubricants can absorb and take away most of the cutting zone heat, and improve the cooling condition and reduce the temperature between the cutting tool and the workpiece, thus to reduce wear and extend the service life of the tools. And it can also prevent the workpiece size error due to thermal deformation.

Choice reasonable the tool material before cnc machining operation

The workpiece materials and processing conditions have great influence on the cutting performance of the cutter. So when machining different material, we need to understand how to choice the right materials to meet the cutting processing requirements.

Strengthen daily maintenance

We need to strengthen daily maintenance for the production site, especially the tool clamping device, working table and tool storage place etc. Regular maintenance of tool accuracy and confirm the screw fastening of the cutter and the clamping device. When installing and disassembling, we also need to clean the smudges of the parts in time.

Anyway, extending the tool service life is crucial to every CNC machining manufacturer, because of it not only can improve the production speed and precision of the parts, and also can save the production costs.

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