Finding Optimal Feeds and Speeds: "Other CAM programs are light years behind iMachining."

You Can’t Find Optimal Feeds and Speeds in Charts, Handbooks…

Apr 3, 2013 // by Bob Warfield

"I see a lot of interesting discussions about feeds and speeds out on the Internet. There are people that think you can get good feeds and speeds just by reading manufacturer’s charts, by ear, from their CAM program, and through a whole host of other shortcuts.

Some say they’ve had enough experience as machinists that they just know the best feeds and speeds. Or, they may say their shop only does a few materials and they’ve learned them by trial and error.

I’ve heard in the same breath that tooling manufacturers don’t test near enough variables to have complete data but that an individual machinist can accumulate enough knowledge through trial and error to come out with near optimal feeds and speeds for all the situations that they encounter.  

These kinds of things make no sense to me. You can’t do this by ear, though many claim they can. If you could, you’d be able to buy audio tapes to get the “ear training” needed to judge your feeds and speeds.

Big manufacturers and tooling companies would enroll machinists in ear training courses.

After all, having the right feeds and speeds makes a huge difference in costs, whether by savings in tool life or savings in overall machining time (or finishing time if you can get a better surface finish right off the machine). 

I have yet to see a CAM program that has very good speeds and feeds built in with the possible exception of SolidCAM’s iMachining. Look at all the noise they’re making about that capability... Other CAM programs are light years behind iMachining."