What you should bear in mind
Milling Steel
Milling steel is a professional project and requires particularly good preparation in addition to the necessary material knowledge. Find out more here!
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Milling steel – What you should bear in mind
Steel is one of the oldest materials and the number one working basis for the automotive industry in particular. However, milling steel is a professional project and requires particularly good preparation in addition to the necessary material knowledge.
Learn interesting background information about steel below and get 6 valuable tips for milling.
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Steel is not always the same as stainless steel
Steel and stainless steel are often confused, and not just by laypeople. This is not least due to the colloquial terms, which are confusing. These differ from the technical definitions of steel and stainless steel and there are also a number of exceptions. Let’s take a closer look at the terminology.
Steel
In principle, you can officially speak of steel if the alloy in question consists primarily of iron material and the carbon content does not exceed the percentage mark of 2.06%.
This accuracy was determined because the same carbon content for cast iron is above exactly this 2.06 %. But watch out: There are in fact steel alloys that are above this value and can still be called steel. However, there are relatively few that fall under this exemption.
How and why is steel hardened?
There are various process techniques for hardening steel. Case hardening is probably one of the best known. The procedure is as follows:
- The piece of steel is carburized until an average 4 mm thick surface layer is formed.
- After heating to the tempering temperature, the parts are then quenched. This process can be carried out with water, but also with oil, inert gases or molten salt, for example.
By hardening the steel, improved mechanical properties such as good tempering stability, ideal damping and wear resistance can be achieved. Hardened steel is mainly used in the automotive industry and in mechanical engineering.
Stainless steel
A technician would confirm that stainless steel is the purest form of steel. Stainless steel alloys always contain the iron by-products sulphur and phosphorus in a percentage by mass of no more than 0.025 %. Only then are they officially considered stainless steel.
Other alloy components of stainless steel are usually chromium and nickel, which make the material particularly resistant to corrosion.
When is steel/stainless steel stainless?
Steel or stainless steel alloys only become rustproof with a chromium content of at least 10.5%, in some cases 13%.
This is important to know, because all too often stainless steel is equated with stainless steel or stainless steel is assumed to be fundamentally rustproof.
CNC milling
Technical data
| Travel paths: | X-axis: up to 10,000 mm Y-axis: up to 4,300 mm Z-axis: up to 1,250 mm |
| Tolerances: | from +/- 0.005 mm |
| Surface roughness: | Ra 0.8 – Rz3.2 |
| Lot sizes: | from 1 piece |
| Machines | Modern 3- and 5-axis milling machines |
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| Steel | Brass |
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6 tips
For steel processing
1.
If you want to avoid comb cracks, it is best to work without coolant when roughing steel. When finishing, on the other hand, a suitable coolant is possible and advantageous due to the reduced heat supply in order to improve the surface quality of the steel.
2.
For martensitic stainless steels, select a higher cutting speed and a tougher grade with reinforced cutting edges for safety reasons.
3.
The highest possible cutting speed of vc = 150-250 m/min (492-820 feet/min) also helps to avoid the formation of built-up edges.
4.
Due to the high work hardening and cutting forces of martensitic steel, it is essential to select the correct machining and roll-in strategy in advance.
5.
When milling harder types of steel, pay particular attention to the optimum position of the milling tool. Otherwise chipping can easily occur.
6.
Do not select a feed rate that is too low, as the cutting edge may start in the plastically deformed area, which may result in greater insert wear.
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Severity of steel processing
How difficult steel is to machine depends on
- its alloy components and proportions
- the heat treatment
- the hardness of the steel grade and
- its manufacturing process (cast, rolled, etc.)
The respective steel alloy can be recognized by the material number. You should always keep this in mind when purchasing steel.
If you would like to delve deeper into the topic, we can recommend this video. More information about the designation system for steels can also be found on the website maschinenbau-wissen.de.
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Conclusion
Steel is one of the most important construction materials of our time. Its material properties, such as wear resistance, make it irreplaceable, particularly for use in the automotive and mechanical engineering industries.
Milling is the machining technique of choice when it comes to hardened steel. At the same time, it can present a major technical challenge that requires comprehensive expertise and a high-quality steel milling cutter.
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