Milling Cutter Geometry

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When choosing a tool, it is necessary to take many criteria into ac-geometry perform the best, while tools with positive - positive geom-
count. One of the primary requirements is that the place of firstetry will be the most problematic. Another criterion is chip removal.
contact between the cutting wedge and the workpiece lie furtherNegative - negative tools push the chip into the work surface (towards
away from the tip and the cutting edge. That, however, is dependentthe workpiece) while positive - positive tools do the opposite, leading
on the basic geometry of the cutting wedge i.e. angles GAMO – γ ,the chip away from the work surface, i.e. away from the workpiece.
LAMS – l , KAPR – k , as well as the mutual position of the millo-It is thus an optimal compromise to combine negative and positive
ing cutter and the entry edge of the workpiece. The following figure srangles.

shows individual milling cutter geometries (or rather, the combina- tions of radial and axial angles) at some of the most adverse engage- ment conditions (i.e. when the axis of the milling cutter is in line with the edge of the workpiece). At the bottom of the figure is a depiction

of the indexable insert with an indication of the area where the insert makes first contact with the workpiece. The figure shows that in such adverse engagement conditions, tools with negative - negative Entering Angle

hKAPR=75°hKAPR=45°h
KAPR=90°DD1D2
b 2
b 1

f f f

h = fh = 0,97fh = 0,71f
k = 1,00 kDk = 1,01 kD1k = 1,09 kD2
k /b = 1,00cc1k /b = 0,98cc1k /b = 0,77cc1
cc12 c
When choosing the entering angle for face milling, you should,Finally, it is important to emphasise that the lower the entering angle,
among other things, account for the power and rigidity of the ma-the thinner the chip and the longer the engaged section of the cutting
chine (size and type of tool holder), its dynamic capabilities and maxi-wedge, which is important with regard to heat dissipation and the
mum depth of removal. For instance, if you have a high-performancedistribution of force across the edge of the insert. Also worth men-
(50 – 100 kW) machine at your disposal with an ISO 50 tool holder andtioning is the change in the direction of the resultant cutting forces,
you cut at high depth, your first choice should be a milling cutter withwhich, in simplified terms, can be visualised as perpendicular to the
an entering angle between 90° – 58°. On the other hand, if you have aedge. (Decreasing the entering angle increases the passive compo-
low-power machine (up to 10 kW) with an ISO 40 (HSK 63) tool holdernent of the cutting force leading into the spindle and decreases the
and you expect to cut at 2 – 3 mm depth, you should choose a toolactive radial component of the cutting force).

with an entering angle of 45° – 10° (i.e. HFC) or with round inserts. It would thus be an ideal compromise to choose a tool with an entering angle of 45°, which can also handle higher depths of cut and, when compared to a tool with an entering angle of 90°, can cut at the same

depth at up to 30 % higher feed and at approximately the same load.