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Finally dialed in my feeds for 304 stainless after a month of fails
Been fighting with this job for weeks now. Running 304 stainless on a Haas VF-2 at my shop. Kept getting chatter and tool breakage no matter what I tried. Lowered my feed from 0.008 to 0.004 per tooth and bumped the speed up to 2800 RPM. Tried a different insert coating too, went with a TiAlN this time. First pass came out smooth as butter. Surface finish went from like a 120 grit to a mirror in some spots. Small change but feels huge for my confidence at work. Anyone else have a specific recipe that unlocked stainless for them?
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wesley_jones28d ago
Nailed it man, that RPM bump is the secret sauce on 304. I was running mine at 2500 for way too long thinking slower was safer but once I pushed it up to 3000 with a lighter chip load everything started working. That TiAlN coating change was a game changer for me too, the heat just disappears into the cut instead of sticking to the tool. Glad you finally got that beast dialed in, nothing beats that feeling when everything clicks after weeks of fighting it.
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Honestly that "smooth as butter" line hit me right in the feels man. I spent like three weeks on a 304 job last year and was about ready to throw my inserts through the window. Finally found my sweet spot at 0.003 per tooth with a TiAlN coated insert and 3200 RPM and it was night and day difference. Your struggle is real, stainless is a total beast compared to like 1018 steel where you can be way more aggressive. That confidence boost matters too, I remember actually looking forward to running that job after I cracked the code.
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