CNC MILLING OF STEEL
You can often come across phrases like CNC milling of metal on the Internet. More than 70 elements are classified as metals. Therefore, metal milling or metal cutting are very general concepts and when someone says them, they usually mean milling in steel. Stainless steel machining is also an ambiguous concept, it is a separate category. Stainless steel itself is divided into ferritic, martensitic and austenitic. There are separate recommendations for milling for each type. Ferritic stainless steel is characterized by machinability comparable to low-alloy steel and therefore the recommendations for steel milling can be used.
Steel, an iron alloy containing less than 2% carbon and being malleable, produces different chips depending on its composition, heat treatment and production technology. The type of chips produced is one of the factors characterizing the material’s susceptibility to cutting, i.e. its machinability. The machinability of the processed material should always be assessed in conjunction with the applied machining technology, the cutting tool material and the cutting parameters.
The machinability of steel is determined by its structure and mechanical properties (hardness, strength). In machining soft, low-carbon steels, the main problems are edge build-up and burr formation. In machining harder types of steel, it becomes important to set the cutter to avoid edge chipping. Currently, dry CNC milling of steel is recommended. Milling of hardened steel can only be done dry, and compressed air can be used for better chip evacuation.
Martensitic stainless steel hardens more during machining and exerts very high forces when the blade enters the material. To achieve the best results, the correct tool path and the method of entering the arc (circular interpolation) should be used, and a higher cutting speed, vc, should be used to ensure better chip breaking during machining. Higher cutting speeds and cutters made of a material with increased toughness, with a reinforced cutting edge, provide greater safety.
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