How to Determine SFM for an Operation

 Henry wrote and asked a good question:

 “How do you determine the correct SFM for machining a part?”

Good question Henery. Choosing the correct SFM really depends a number of things.

1. Machinability of the material (see http://www.carbidedepot.com/formulas-machinability.htm )
2. The tool material (carbide, High Speed Steel, Ceramic, etc)
3. The rigidity of the set up

And so on.

Once you know the material characteristics and tool material you can go to machinery’s handabook or similar texts and look up speeds and feeds for optimum conditions for various operations like drilling, milling, threading, turning and so on.

Another great source of information for speeds and feeds is provided by the carbide manufacturers like Kennametal, Valenite (now Walter),  Seco Tools and Iscar, to name a few.   These companies have catalogs and websites containing a wealth of information about speeds and feeds for their cutting tools.   And, if you are a customer they generally have application engineers available to assist you.

All machining conditions are different, so basically you start with the redommended Speeds and Feeds (assuming you have adequate rigidity for safe maching) and tweak the process from there depending on your needs for productivity, tool life, repeatability, machine capability etc.

Great question Henry, thanks for asking.  I hope this information helps you.