What are the milling methods of gantry machining center?

Most of the milling of gantry machining centers is done by reverse milling. However, down milling should be used as much as possible, which will get better processing effect. Because when the gantry machining center is reverse milling, the blade produces fierce friction before cutting in, causing the machined surface to harden, making it difficult for the next tooth to cut in.

When the gantry milling machine is down milling, the milling width should be approximately equal to 2/3 of the milling cutter diameter, which can ensure that the blade can immediately cut into the workpiece at the beginning, with almost no friction. If it is less than 1/2 of the milling cutter diameter, the blade will start to "collision" the workpiece again. Since the cutting thickness becomes smaller when cutting in, the feed per tooth will also decrease due to the narrowing of the radial cutting width. The result of "collision" shortens the tool life. For carbide tools, it is more advantageous to increase the feed per tooth and reduce the cutting depth.

Therefore, when rough milling, if the radial cutting width is less than the milling cutter radius, increasing the feed amount will improve the tool life, and the gantry milling machine processing time will be shortened accordingly. Of course, fine milling requires a smooth surface of the workpiece, so the feed amount should be limited.

The radial milling width is adjusted to confirm the ratio of the milling cutter diameter to the radial milling width. This operation is best performed on a high-precision gantry machining center so that the change in the surface roughness of the workpiece can be observed while adjusting the ratio.