Speed And Feed Calculator for Professional CNC Programmers and Machinists

Choose your Tool Type, Tool Material and Tool Coating

Cutting parameters depend not only on the type of tool you are using, but also on the material it is made of and its coating.

We have the largest number of tool types, tool materials and coatings to choose from than any other Speed and Feed calculator out there

Tool Types

Here is the list of currently available tool types:

End Mills

• Solid End Mill
  A regular finishing or medium-machining end mill. Not suitable for deep or heavy cuts.
• HP/Roughing End Mill
  A High Performance or Roughing end mill capable of deep cuts.
• Indexed End Mill
  An end mill with replaceable edges or inserts. Usually Roughing.
• Indexed Face Mill
  Another Type of cutting gool with replaceable inserts designed to clean up large horizontal surface area of the workpiece.
• Helical Indexed End Mill
  A multiple flute indexed mill with large flute length capable of narrow but very deep cuts.
• High Feed Mill
  An indexed or solid end mill, with very shallow lead angle, that utilizes axial chip thinning effect allowing it to achieve very high feed rates comparable to tools of equal size and length.
  This Tool Type  requires user to turn on Chip Thinning compensation in the Comp. panel
• V-Bit Engraver
  A normally single flute solid end mill normally used for engraving.
• Chamfer Mill
  Another type of solid or indexed mill that has particular Lead Angle and is normally used to add chamfers to sharp corners on your workpiece.

Drills

• Jobber Twist Drill
  A regular solid twist drill, nothing special.
• Hi-Helix Parabolic Drill
  A drill that has special geometry allowing it to drill deeper holes with fewer peck cycles.Usually features higher flute helix, split drill point, thicker core and rolled heel.
• Spade Drill
  A drill with single replaceable cutting tip that looks like a spade.
• Indexed Drill
  A drill that has 2 staggered indexable inserts. One located closer to the center, the other- to the outside.
  This drill type has only ONE effective cutting edge.
• Straight Flute for Hard Metal
  A drill that has straight flutes and used primarily for hardened steels and is unsuitable for soft materials.
• Reamer
  Regular reamer - tool that is used to finish holes to high degree of dimensional accuracy and surface finish.
• Counterbore
  A tool, usually with a pilot tip that is used to create a recess in a surface of a workpiece in already-existing hole for a head of a screw to fit in.

Threading Tools

• Thread Mill
  A milling tool thats sole purpose is to mill internal and external threads onto already existing features like holes and bosses.
• Forming Tap
  A tap that uses forming action to form a thread in a drilled hole.
  threads produced this way tend to be stronger and tool itself tends to have longer life.
  Recommended for malleable materials under 40RC (400HB) in hardness.
  Tap holes need to be drilled to larger size than for regular cutting taps.
• Tap
  A regular Tapping tool.

Turning Tools

• Boring Bar
  A tool used to increase internal diameter in a drilled or milled hole.
• Turning - Profiling
  A turning tool that is used for either profiling or facing.
• Turning - Grooving
  A grooving tool that is used to produce narrow cylindrical grooves by plunging into the material.

Tool Materials

Here is the list of available tool materials:

• HSS
  High Speed Steel - invented in the old times when using it really meant high speeds.
  Since the advancements in metallurgy with tough to machine materials becoming more common, its use for milling tools is limited to mainly non-ferrous alloys and plastics.
  Drilling tools, especially Reamers and Taps are still, however are made of HSS
• HSCoblat
  A variation of HSS that has higher Cobalt content (usually 8%) giving it higher hardness at high temperatures.
• Carbide
  Tungsten Carbide - an extremely hard cutting material capable of maintaining its properties at high cutting forces and temperatures.
  There are many different grades of tungsten carbide used for cutting tools and inserts, but for sake of simplicity (really i could have added 5 most used ones. but do you really want me to?) we assume that the carbide grate is suitable to the material AND its application. IE: Do not pick up an end mill designed for Aluminum and try to use it on hardened steel. Not only the cutting geometry will be wrong, but also carbide grade mill likely be different.
• PCD Diamond
  Polycrystalline Diamond - a synthetic diamond that is used on non-ferrous materials where tool life is very important such as Graphite, Fiberglass and Aluminum.
• Ceramic
  Ceramic a synthetic material that features extremely high hardness even at elevated conditions.
  It is used to literally liquefy workpiece material at extremely high cutting speeds and relatively low chiploads.
  Used on difficult - to -machine ferrous alloys such as hardened tool steels, hardened stainless steels and super alloys.

Coatings

Here is the list of available coatings:

• TiN
  Titanium Nitride - a golden- coloured coating used to prolong life of a tool
• TiCN
  Titanium Cubic Nitride - a high-performance coating that allows to increase cutting speeds.
• TiAlN
  Titanium Aluminum Nitride  - a high-performance coating that at high cutting temperatures transforms into even harder version of itself.
  Often used dry.Applications range from soft to hardened steels, and from stainless steels to super alloys 
• AlTiN
  Same as TiAlN, but harder and with higher Aluminum composition.
  Allows higher cutting speeds than TiAlN
• AlCrN
  Aluminum Chromium Nitride - another high-performance coating widely used on super-alloys for its extremely high hardness and high temperature resistance
• ZrN
  Zirconium Nitride - Coating used on non-ferrous alloys (mainly aluminums) for its high lubricity and hardness.
  Greatly extends tool life.

Can not find your Tool Type, Tool Material or Coating on the list?

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Here is a short Application Guide for use of different cutting tool materials and coatings.

Tool Materials and Coatings are listed from least preferable to most preferable.
(IE: line "Recommended tool materials: HSS, HSCobalt, Carbide, Diamond" means that HSS is the least preferable material and Diamond is the Most preferable one)

Tool Material

• Aluminum and other non-ferrous metals:
  Recommended tool materials: HSS, HSCobalt, Carbide, Diamond
  Recommended number of flutes:2 or 3
  Recommended coolant: Flood Coolant for all tool materials, reduce cutting depth and speed for less than ideal cooling situations
• Abrasive non-ferrous and non-metall materials:
  Recommended tool materials: HSS, HSCobalt, Carbide, Diamond
  Recommended number of flutes:2 or 3
  Recommended coolant: Flood Coolant for all tool materials, reduce cutting depth and speed for less than ideal cooling situations
• Mild and Tool Steels
  Recommended tool materials:HSS, HSCobalt, Carbide
  Recommended number of flutes: 4 for regular machining; 4+ for finishing and HSM machining   
  Recommended coolant for HSS and HSCObalt tooling: Flood, reduce cutting depth and speed for less than ideal coolant situations
  Recommended coolant for Carbide tooling: Dry or mist airblast to clear the chips
• Nikel and Cobalt Ferrous super alloys
  Recommended tool materials:HSCobalt, Carbide, Ceramics
  Recommended number of flutes: 3-4 for regular machining; 4+ for finishing and HSM machining   
  Recommended coolant for HSCobalt and Carbide: High pressure, high volume flood coolant
  Recommended coolant for Ceramics: None
• Titanium alloys
  Recommended tool materials: HSCobalt, Carbide
  Recommended number of flutes: 3-4 for regular machining; 4+ for finishing and HSM machining   
  Recommended coolant: High pressure, high volume flood coolant

Tool Coating

Coating improves wear and temperature resistance of the cutting edge.
General rules of thumb:

• Aluminum and other non-abrasive non-ferrous metals
  Recommended coatings:No Coating (bright finish), TiCN, ZrN, TiB
  Recommended coolant: Flood, reduce cutting depth and speed for less than ideal coolant situations
• Abrasive non-ferrous and non-metall materials:
  Recommended coatings: TiAlN,AlTiN, AlCrN, Diamond
  Recommended coolant: Flood, reduce cutting depth and speed for less than ideal coolant situations
• Mild and tool Steels
  Recommended coatings:TiN, TiCN, TiAlN, AlTiN, AlCrN
  Recommended coolant for HSS and HSCObalt tooling: Flood, reduce cutting depth and speed for less than ideal coolant situations
  Recommended coolant for Carbide tooling: Dry or mist airblast to clear the chips
• Nikel and Cobalt Ferrous super alloys
  Recommended coatings:TiN, TiCN, TiAlN, AlTiN, AlCrN
  Recommended coolant: High pressure, high volume flood coolant
• Titanium alloys
  Recommended coatings:No coating (bright finish); Super hard AlCrN, AlTiN, TiAlN nano coatings
  Recommended coolant: High pressure, high volume flood coolant

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Enter Your cutting tool geometry starting with Tool Diameter (Turn diameter for Lathe)
All input fields displayed on the screen are important.

Normally when you change the tool type, default data is loaded from the database.
You can override this behavior in the Settings tab on the Fields and Limits that Reset to Default when Tool Type Changes panel by un-checking Reset Tool Data checkbox

Here are the input fields available for Tool Geometry

• Tip Dia (Mill, Drill)

  The diameter of the cutting end of the end mill, drill, reamer etc

• Turn Dia (Lathe)

  The diameter of the finished workpiece.

  When working in CSS and IPR mode it makes sense to keep Turn Dia equal to the actual maximum diameter of the workpiece. If you fail to do so, you may overload the spindle by calculating incorrect depth of cut and feed rate

• N# of Flutes (Mill, Drill)

  An effective number of cutting teeth on your milling or drilling tool.

• N# of Inserts (Lathe, Boring Bar)

  Effective number of cutting edges that do work at the same time. IE: some boring bars have 2 inserts

• Tool Stickout

  The distance from the nose of a tool holder to the tip of the cutting tool.

  For integrated or arbor-mounted tooling, use the distance from the spindle nose to the tip of the tool.

• Corner Radius

  Corner Radius of the insert or the tip of the tool

• Flute Length
  Length of the cutting portion of the tool.
  Be careful as some tool types like button cutters do not allow full-depth cuts.

• Lead Angle of the cutting edge.
  The angle between the cutting edge and a plane perpendicular to the centerline of the tool

  Common values for end mills

  90: regular straight edge
  45: Common angle for face cutters
  5-30: High feed mills

  Lower angles allow increased feed rates

• Shank Dia
  The diameter of the non-cutting portion of the tool

• Helix Angle
  The helix angle of the flutes.

• Shoulder Length
  The distance from the tip of the tool to the shank of the tool. It is often the same length as the Flute Length but is sometimes larger on necked tools.

• Tapered Shoulder
  Controls how the shoulder portion is displayed and calculated. If it is checked, the shoulder is tapered from the end of the flutes to the beginning of the shank portion.

• Shoulder Diameter
  The diameter of the tool shoulder. It is often the same size as the Tip Diameter but is sometimes smaller for necked tools such as T-Slot cutters.

This is how the Tool Data Panel looks like for any End Mill Tool Type

Lines have been drawn to show which fields affect which tool features.

Drilling Tool Type Tool Data Panel

Turning Tool Type Tool Data Panel

Tap Tool type Tool Data Panel

Reamer, Counter Bore and Thread Mill Tool Type Tool Data Panel

See Also

• Select Tool Type, Tool Material and Coating
• Tool Material and Coating Application Guide

Enter/Adjust your cutter engagement parameters

The expandable Cut panel is visible when either Milling or Turning Tool Type is selected.

When a Turning tool type is selected, only the DOC input field is visible.

These are the fields available on the Cut panel for Milling tools

• DOC
  Depth of Cut - Axial depth of cut
• WOC
  Width of Cut - Radial Width of cut
• WOC %
  Width of Cut as a percentage from the cutter diameter
  
• WOC Deg
  Width of Cut in Degrees with 180 being full with of cut and 0 - none at all

This is how the Cut panel looks for Milling Tools:

When you change the WOC value, WOC-% and WOC-Deg change automatically.

But if you want to change the % or Deg field directly and set an inch or mm WOC, you need to enter your number and then hit ENTER.

For Turning tools, only the DOC input field is available.

• For Profiling Operations
  Depth of Cut - The radial depth of cut.
• For Grooving or Facing Operations
  Depth of Cut - Width of the Grooving or Facing pass

This is how the Cut panel looks for Turning Tools:

See Also

• Balancing Cut Parameters

The main point of having a Tool Database is to streamline access to frequently-used tool sizes and custom cutting data, preserving your manufacturing knowledge for future use by you and perhaps to share it with your co-workers.

Tools have to be added by clicking the "Add Tool" button on the "Tool Data" panel of the "Speeds and Feeds" tab.

Once a tool has been loaded, you will not be able to edit it's Tool geometry or access the "Add Tool" functionality. Please click on the "Edit New" or "Reset" button on the Tool Data panel to unload the current tool.

Adding a Tool to the Database

After entering your Tool geometry, it is encouraged to spend a few seconds adding it to your Tool Database so that you can reuse it later.

Just click on the "Add Tool" button. The following dialog will appear:

Here you can define the rest of the Tool Information that sets it apart from other tools in your database.

Please specify Tool Library, Its name, Brand Name, Series, etc.

You can also set handling information, the number of tools on stock, and set alert levels when stock is low.

After entering any of the information, you can click the "Add" button to save the new tool in the Database.

The dialog will then close the new tool will be loaded into the Speeds and Feeds tab.

You may like to learn about 

• Tool Database Tab

• Tool Library Actions

• Manipulating Tools and Cuts: Selecting/Copying/Moving/Deleting

© Eldar Gerfanov

You can manipulate a large number of tools simultaneously by selecting multiple Tool records in the Tool Database tab.

You can select multiple tools in sequence using your mouse and/or keyboard.

When one or more Tool and/or Cut rows have been selected, you can perform various actions on them by right-clicking on the Tool Table control.

There are various methods for selecting Tools:

• Select single row
  Left-Click on a tool record.
• Selecting multiple rows by dragging the mouse
  Left-Click on a first row to be selected and drag the mouse up or down to select multiple rows
• Selecting random multiple rows
  Press and hold the "Control" keyboard key and select rows by clicking and dragging the mouse across the rows you wish to select.
• Selecting a range of rows between first and last selected rows
  1. Select the first row of the range
  2. Press and hold the "Shift" keyboard key
  3. Select the last row of the range
  4. All rows between the first and the last will be selected.

Tool Database Tool/Cut record actions

Once Tool/Cut rows have been selected, you can perform various actions on them by right-clicking on the Tool Table control. A context pop-up menu will show up:

Depending on the number and the kind of selected records, various options will be available:

• When a single Tool or Cut is selected in addition to common actions, You can Load Tool or Cut into HSMAdvisor or View its Information
  When multiple Tools/Cuts are selected, Load and View Information options are disabled
• When at least one tool is selected Copy To... or Move To..., options are available allowing you to copy/move the selected tool(s) to another Tool Library
  All cuts attached to selected tools also get copied. A Cut can only be copied together with its parent tool.
• You can Delete selected items by clicking the Delete option.
  If a tool is being deleted, all its cuts will be deleted as well.
  It is possible to delete only the Cuts by selecting the corresponding rows.
• Mass Quick Edit sub-menu allows you to do the following actions:
  
  
  The availability of certain options will vary depending on the number and the kind of rows that have been selected:
• Clone Tool/Generate Sizes is available when a single Tool record is selected.
  It allows you to create a list of tools using the selected one as a template.
  The tools' starting and ending diameters and the diameter step-up will be defined in a series of questions.
• The rest of the Mass Quick Edit options are self-explanatory.
  Whenever in doubt, copy tools into a new test library and perform these actions there to make sure you do not adversely affect the existing rows.
• Tool Ordering sub-menu is available when at least one tool record is selected.
  It allows you to quickly add tools to the Request List for further ordering through your purchasing department.

You may like to learn about 

• Tool Database Tab

• Tool Library Actions

• Adding New Tools to the Database

© Eldar Gerfanov