I’ve got a 1/4 inch tapered ball mill R1/321.5D1/4*3L and can’t find it in the Sienci tool database. It only shows 1/4"D1/16" and a 1/8"D0.01"? Can anyone help I’m using Carveco to do a 3D relief carving. Thanks Tony
@Teeman I’ve moved your post to the Carveco category, Tony. I realize that you are asking about an entry in the Sienci tool database, but if Carveco is anything like VCarvePro, it is a simple matter to add that mill manually to your tool database.
I suspect that others here who are using Carveco will be able to guide you.
Thanks Grant, thats what I planned to do but just wondering about some of the settings. Half Angle, Stepdown, Stepover, Feed and Plunge?
@Teeman Understood. Other than the half angle, which is a fixed dimension, the other factors you named are really machine and material specific. Ask 10 people what to set them to and you will get 11 opinions. In VCarvePro, entering those data will produce a chip load for each mill. There are many chip load charts which will show you a chip load range for the material you are cutting. I don’t know if Carveco has the same feature. If not, there are plenty of chip load calculators online that will do the job.
I have found that much of this comes down to trial and error. I start out very conservatively and gradually get more agressive until I had hit the sweet spot.
I’ve never used a tool database from any of the bit providers. They generally include tons of bits that I don’t have and never will. They simply clog up my VCarvePro database.
One thing you can do is to find a bit similar to yours on the Amanda or Whiteside site. They have starting points for all their bits, which should get you into the neighbourhood.