How to Choose the Ideal Titanium Milling Tool

In this modern world, Titanium and its alloys play a vital role in almost every field. To produce these small and intricate parts machining processes are applied to acquire the desired components.

CNC machining titanium is the most common and exact method for manufacturing titanium and its alloys. CNC machining used by industry gives the edge to make rapid prototyping of the product and then producing low to high volume production with precision and tight tolerances.

CNC milling is mostly applied on titanium due to its highly worn nature during fabrication. And in this regard using the best tool for producing ideal titanium parts should be selected.

Weigh wear resistance against toughness

It is quite possible that the edges of tough materials like titanium and its alloys can easily wear when applied to a higher pressure. This problem leads to weight wear of the product and hence the desired output product cannot be achieved.

The speed of the milling tool plays a vital role in this process. CNC milling requires a specific speed for working. The higher the speeds the higher the tendency of the material getting wear through edges. So milling process should be operated at a normal speed for perfect tooling.

But it is very much not the case when you follow the complete best techniques to avoid wear against the toughness of the material. Selecting the tougher tool gives better results. In this regard, high-speed steel is preferred over carbide milling tools. In order to get more accurate results it is recommended that one must go for power metallurgy. But they are usually expensive.

Heat resistance

Usually, in a machining process, a large amount of heat is produced. Production of heat can cause the tool to get wear and the tool can be melted or tilted during the process. Heat can ruin the working tool as very tight finishes are required to complete the machining process. Heat can also affect the tolerances during manufacturing.

In order to reduce this heat production the machinist should use the best cooling agent to stop the machining tool from heating. Using a high-pressure cooling system is best to keep the process cool down to a minimum. The reason is that titanium components require very tight tolerances and small parts production. Coating a layer of some nonmagnetic material upon the cutting tool will also help to avoid heating up the workpiece. Titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN) is a suitable alloy for coating over cutting and milling tools.

Number of effective edges

CNC titanium operates in 3, 4, and 5 axes during the manufacturing of tiny and intricate parts using titanium and its alloys. To operate the machine in 5 axes it is very likely that the edges can get affected during the machining process. In this regard, the cutting edges should be kept sharp. Even though titanium is very ductile and has a very low Young’s modulus of elasticity which makes it suitable for such processes.

When a tool is operated in 5 axes for a large span of time the edges of the cutting tool as well as the edges of the workpiece can get easily worn down. To overcome this problem during high-volume production interrupted cuts of the workpiece should be avoided as much as it can be. Because if it is not avoided the tool can fail very early in the manufacturing process. The use of high-speed mills is another good technique to overcome this problem. The reason is that they are suitable to work axially and radially on titanium and its alloys. The number of end flutes consideration is another method to overcoming the problem of effective edge removal. The greater the number of end mill flutes lesser the chatters of the workpiece.

Vibration elimination

Vibrations are a very critical part of any machine and machining process. Vibration can also cause tool failure during the continued machining process and hence it will damage the work piece or damage it. Titanium and its alloys are very lightweight and even a small amount of continuous vibration can damage the workpiece completely. So the elimination of vibration should be the first priority of the machinist to avoid loss of the tooling equipment or the workpiece.

In order to avoid this problem the spindle and tool holder should be made as stiff as possible. The material should be made in such a way that it should have the quality to absorb when subjected to some kind of shock.  A tool with a significant margin can be used because it can help in reducing the shocks produced.

Conclusion

Titanium machining processes require very high skills and very precise tooling for production. In comparison with other materials like steel and aluminum, titanium parts should be manufactured with great care because of their lightweight and low malleability nature. Selecting the best tool that is ideal for the production of titanium is the main task during manufacturing.

Similarly, the machinist's skills matter for the best and highest-quality products. Due to the harder nature of the titanium, it should be stretched before manufacturing to avoid any problems during the tooling of the workpiece. The feed rate should also be considered for the best output of the product.