Cutting Reference Data for End Mills of Various Materials

Effective working solution depends on correct cutters, operation method, and technology.
Usual cutting conditions and major influence factors of CNC machines.

	Introduction	Formula
Cutting Data V(m/min)	Cutting speed is decided by the diameter of end mills and its rpm		V=Cutting speed(m/min) D=diameter(mm) N=rpm of one min of end mills(min-1)
Feed speed F(mm/min)	Feed speed is the speed of relative one of work piece. Feed rate per flute is important for multi-flute end mills.		F=Feed speed per minute z= number of flute f= Feed volume per flute
Cutting depth a(mm)	Cutting depth is the thickness of flute machining on work piece. We always increase cutting depth to achieve its efficiency, but it is too deep to short tool life. It’s better to give proper cutting depth per flute, don’t increase feed rate and cutting depth together.	--	--
Feed rate per flue f(mm/刃)	Once a flute to cut	--	--
Cutting width b(mm)	Vibration caused by diameter of end mill, width of work piece, flute numbers, and cutting width.	--	--

Cutting Speed

Work Material	High Speed Steel	Carbide – rough cutting	Carbide – fine cutting
Cast iron (soft)	32	50-60	120-150
Cast iron (hard)	24	30-60	75-100
Malleable cast iron	24	30-75	50-100
Steel (soft)	27	30-75	150
Steel (hard)	15	25	30
Aluminum alloy	150	95-300	300-1200
Yellow Steel (soft)	60	240	180
Yellow Steel (hard)	50	150	300
Bronze	50	75-150	150-240
Copper	50	150-240	240-300
Hard Rubber	60	240	450
Fiber	40	140	200

Feed volume each side

Working Material			Face cutter		End Mill		Spiral flute flat end mill		Side Cutter		Milling Cutter		Metal gap cutter
			HSS	Carbide	HSS	Carbide	HSS	Carbide	HSS	Carbide	HSS	Carbide	HSS	Carbide
Cast Iron	HB150-180		0.4	0.5	0.2	0.25	0.32	0.4	0.23	0.3	0.13	0.15	0.10	0.13
	HB180-220		0.32	0.4	0.18	0.2	0.25	0.32	0.18	0.25	0.1	0.13	0.08	0.1
	HB220-300		0.28	0.3	0.15	0.15	0.20	0.25	0.15	0.18	0.08	0.1	0.08	0.08
Malleable cast iron, Cast iron			0.3	0.35	0.15	0.18	0.25	0.28	0.18	0.2	0.1	0.13	0.08	0.1
Carbon steel	Cutting steel		0.3	0.4	0.15	0.2	0.25	0.32	0.18	0.18	0.23	0.13	0.08	0.1
	Soft steel, Steel		0.25	0.35	0.13	0.18	0.20	0.28	0.15	0.2	0.08	0.1	0.08	0.1
Alloy Steel	Annealing robust steel	HB180-220	0.20	0.35	0.10	0.18	0.18	0.28	0.13	020	0.08	0.1	0.05	0.1
		HB220-300	0.15	0.3	0.08	0.15	0.13	0.25	0.10	0.18	0.05	0.10	0.05	0.08
		HB300-400	0.10	0.25	0.05	0.13	0.08	0.2	0.08	0.15	0.05	0.08	0.03	0.08
	Stainless steel		0.15	0.25	0.08	0.13	0.13	0.20	0.10	0.15	0.05	0.08	0.05	0.08
Al-Mg Alloy			0.55	0.5	0.28	0.25	0.45	040	0.32	0.30	0.18	0.15	0.13	0.13
Brass, Bronze		speedy cutting	0.55	0.5	0.28	0.25	0.45	0.4	0.32	0.3	0.18	0.15	0.13	0.13
		ordinary	0.35	0.30	0.18	0.15	0.28	0.25	0.20	0.18	0.10	0.10	0.10	0.18
		hard	0.23	0.25	0.13	0.13	0.18	0.2	0.15	0.15	0.08	0.08	0.05	0.08
Coppper			0.30	030	0.15	0.15	0.25	0.23	0.18	0.18	0.10	0.10	0.08	0.08
Plastics			0.32	0.38	0.18	0.18	0.25	0.30	0.20	0.23	0.10	0.13	0.08	0.10