Machining Steel and Stainless Steel on the Nomad -

[@hippie-io7225]

Thank you for pushing the limits of what is possible on a non-industrial cnc machine.

[@ADBBuild]

Lubrication won't do much. Flood coolant is used for it's cooling more than it's lubrication (hence the name). Yes, there is lubricant in it, but usually less than 10% by volume. What really kills endmills is running your spindle speed too high. A lot of hobby CNCs are more like routers that have extremely high spindle speeds, which work great for aluminum but not so much for steel. A 4-flute 3/32" diameter tool should be running at ~8200 and 6.5 IPM. You were pushing that tool pretty hard going with less RPM and more feed. You might consider going with a cool-mist system. This will add some lubrication, but the idea is the evaporation cools everything down with little actual coolant used.

[@kurokami5964]

what also kill an endmill is cutting its own chips

[@s.s.9627]

You could also double your tool life by choking up on that end mill in the collet, that stick out goes for days!!!

[@homebuiltedmmachines9471]

Agree 100% The biggest down fall I see in hobby work is the cutting tip OF THE END MILL is WAY to far from the bearingS in the spindle. Ideally the cutting end of the mill would be on the center line of the ball bearing in the spindle, but that is impossible to do and still cut. So get the business end of the end mill as close to the final ball bearing in the spindle. A good rule of thumb KEEP YOUR MOMENTS AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE AND STILL ACHIEVE YOUR DESIRED RESULTS!!!

[@shirothehero0609]

Love to see you guys pushing the limit too!! Steel and Ti were the whole reason I bought my Nomad. Now before you ask me what in the hell I was thinking, my goal was to try and push the limit of this little guy for small part creation. I knew it would handle the other stuff just fine (wood, delrin, alu), but machining is the most exciting when you're in unique/unexplored territory and pushing what people say is 'impossible'. I'll also say, with the right tool, even 6al-4v is entirely doable completely dry. On to the Inconel!!!!

[@haroldkreye8770]

May I ask if the Ti you machined was pre-hardened? Thanks.

[@RichardCournoyer]

Nice job Winston...but be honest, we all love the smell on WD40!

[@WinstonMakes]

I do too, but the customer support team next door doesn't appreciate it as much as I do...

[@shirothehero0609]

I smear it all over my chest nightly before bed. My wife LOVES IT.

[@forloop7713]

I use is as deodorant

[@85CEKR]

Hi, I'm not familiar with the machine your running, I run full size machines at work, but when running solid carbide wouldn't you be better severed with a much larger step down and much smaller step over? Then you'd engage more of the cutter in the material which with a good tool (variable pitch) you should actually get much less vibration. Also if your having any rigidity issues you tool stick out is pretty excessive for that diameter. I'm not sure what diameter that tool is but when we run say an 1/8 endmill if we only need 1/4 of flute we'll get one with 1/4 loc and stick it out 1/4 plus 0.05". Also coolant will do more damage than good with tool steel

[@weberwoodshop]

Oooh a pair of tool steel longboards is next I just know it.

[@carbide3d]

Don't give me any ideas... -W

[@arthurmorgan8966]

Re: Cooling. There is this Brit electricians channel, they are using cooling gel for cutting steel profiles with cordless drills. Not sure if that would be of any help.

[@gusbisbal9803]

I totally agree on the WD40 smell. Try professional water soluble coolant but in a spay bottle and give it a squirt when needed. Works great. ( Obviously I mean the coolant mixed with the water, not just the coolant oil)

[@jmtx.]

Awesome exploration work! Thanks for the recipes.

[@haroldkreye8770]

Hello Winston, please show the Nomad 3 milling hardened titanium and hardened 400 series S.S. I am considering this machine for small projects. Thanks.

[@r.in.shibuya]

It sucks when valid comments are never replied!

[@iivv_nn]

I cant wait to get this. Saving up right now

[@ChristophPech]

Very nice. Last weekend I cut steel on my machine too. I tried a bit of wd40 but it went up in smoke from the cutting, didn't make a difference in surface finish so I stopped using it. The steel chips were very annoying compared to aluminium because I have magnetic plexiglass covers.

[@toco002]

What does the steel chips do to your magnetic plexiglass coveres?

[@ChristophPech]

@@toco002 They are sticking to the magnets that's why I replaced them with screws.

[@mikaelrpz3642]

Are all these F/S applicable with the Nomad 3 ?

[@carbide3d]

Those are excellent starting points. When it comes to machining hard materials people often are concerned about the machine rigidity. In fact, the limiting factor is often the endmill. A 1/8” endmill will break long before the NOMAD 3 even thinks about being stalled.

[@jothkell9173]

awesome vid! thank you

[@TheDIMONART]

So, unsupported linear rods works great with steel!!

[@barryhenshaw9321]

Where can i buy the Nomad, and price? Great vid, thx!

[@carbide3d]

shop.carbide3d.com/collections/machines/products/nomad-3?variant=32912906321981

[@fournierluc2205]

Do you think that it is possible to successfully machine a contour in sheet metal (steel 0.125” ) with the Shapeoko? I was asked to make a sign that will look aged/rusted.

[@forloop7713]

Did it work?

[@fournierluc2205]

@@forloop7713 Unfortunately the project was put on hold UFN.

[@xr0Otx]

What's your spindle runout after this? I made many plastic parts and everything worked fine. But after two small aluminum parts, i end up with 0,2mm runout... Did i push it too hard, or it is normal? (nomad)

[@carbide3d]

Are you measuring runout directly or part size? If the latter, did you run a finishing pass?

[@xr0Otx]

@@carbide3d directly on spindle, and part was smaller as well

[@carbide3d]

​@@xr0Otx Hm, that doesn't seem normal. Have you tried the NYC CNC method for reducing spindle runout? May also need to clean the collet/conical contact surfaces, and then clock the collet in an orientation that minimizes runout. Also try checking runout using a precision ground pin. Not that I've done it, but it is possible for small diameter carbide tooling to get bent... -W

[@kaden56]

I am interested in what think about using coolant intermittently on carbide tools. I have heard that it should be all or nothing with coolant on them because they heat up then work harden every time you spray them during a cut causing them to get more brittle thus increasing the chance of them chipping.

[@shirothehero0609]

If you're thinking flood, stay away from it for something like this. Go with a light mist and solid air pressure. You'll have good chip evac and a nice consistent cooling effect without having to worry about massive amounts of coolant all over the machine and the floor. Something like the fog buster is ideal imo.

[@kaden56]

Shirosake I agree and a fog buster is exactly what I use on my machine with koolmist coolant. This is constant so there is no heat up cool down heat up cool down oscillation in temperature. My question is what he thinks about that non constant “spray it with WD-40” every 15 seconds or so approach. From what I hear that can actually decrease your tool life when compared to no liquid coolant method.

[@WinstonMakes]

@@kaden56 Anecdotally, Richard Cournoyer has had pretty good luck with it. I think as long as you're dripping near the tool, and not directly onto the tool, what the endmill encounters is essentially a thin-film with very little thermal mass not much worse than a fogbuster deposits on the workpiece. Need more data to say for sure though.

[@josephvarner603]

Kitboga is that you?

[@boshypatry]

Why aren't you using tungsten carbide tools?

[@nsscooters]

AnonymusX he is. Titanium aluminum nitride coated carbide

[@boshypatry]

@@nsscooters Ohh okokok thanks :)

[@michaelcoffin4364]

Love the video. I never imagined I could cut steel on a small desk top machine. What vise is that?

[@WinstonMakes]

It's the Carbide3D low profile vise.

[@michaelcoffin4364]

@@WinstonMakes awesome, thank you. I've honestly not ever looked at the site. I have a next wave automation cnc piranha. Now sold at the piranha fx. I HIGHLY recommend something else for a beginner. But it has taught me a lot about cad/cam and how to draw in fusion as I have redesigned the whole thing in fusion.

[@Slime6r]

Lmao. I have a CNC 3018 with a 12,000 rpm Er11 spindle I put on it. I use $1 endmills off banggood and mill brass and aluminum just fine

[@neinoffizier5665]

ya, fine within your own definition of "fine." This video shows someone who mills stainless on a less than ideal machine with a suprisingly good surface finish. there are good reasons to buy expensive endmills from manufacturers like e.g. Seco. I'm an engineer and program 5axis machining centers professionally and a good endmill will be worth it's money as soon as surface finish, cycle time and process reliability become important. I wouldnt even dabble with 1$ endmills, since if you really know how to use them, even a 30$ endmill will outlast and outperform a 1$banggood endmill. In the long run you'll save money.

[@ubbgn]

Actually steel is easier to machine than aluminum!

[@janderson2375]

In what way? I don't see how a harder material is easier to machine than a softer one given these non-industrial machines.

[@ubbgn]

@@janderson2375 Tooling is key!

[@99897767]

@@janderson2375 in a manual mill, steel is a lot easier because it runs wayyy slower, aluminium on the other hand is somewhat harder because of it's gummy-ness, steel don't do chip welding too

[@janderson2375]

@@99897767 Right, but this isn't a manual mill, the context here is a Nomad 3. In this case, steel is more difficult because of the rigidity and power of the machines. Aluminum is easier due to it requiring less power and less requirement on maintaining an ideal SFM.

[@99897767]

@@janderson2375 I know, what I meant is the original commenter is trying to be a smarty and call steel easy off-context

[@gregorymaider6939]

Please stop referring to cutting data as a recipe

[@davidk8893]

Straight out of the webster dictionary, it lists the definition of 'recipe' as: "a formula or procedure for doing or attaining something". The data provided is a formula for getting a good cut. Therefore, recipe is an applicable term.