YOUR GUIDE

TO DYNAMIC
MILLING

HOW TO MAXIMIZE MATERIAL

REMOVAL WHILE MINIMIZING
TOOL WEAR
INTRODUCTION
Can you improve material removal rate while
increasing tool life, minimizing tool wear, and
maintaining process security?
The short answer is yes. You can get that, with
additional benefits that include:

ƒ Reduced machine cycles

ƒ Reduced finishing operations
ƒ Safe unmanned operations
ƒ Minimum heat build-up

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HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
Where component and set up fit, Dynamic
milling (DM, also known as optimized or
advanced roughing) is the answer for those who
want to improve material removal rate while
still maintaining process security compared to
traditional milling strategies such as slotting and
side milling.
The DM concept consists in incorporating two
different machining principles – resulting in
unprecedented advantages not realized before.

1. Thinning the chip

By decreasing the tool radial engagement or
stepover (ae) to 42% (40° contact) or less. When
less than half the tool diameter (Dc) is engaged in
the cut, the average chip thickness (hm) decreases.
This principle is also applied in the high-speed
strategies, which were implemented globally in
the early 1990’s and were particularly effective in
hardenend steel machining. To achieve similar
efficiencies compared to classical machining, the
cutting speed needed an impulse. This was achieved
by high speed spindles when 15-40.000 RPM
spindles were introduced.

fz

Dc

ae
hm

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2. Constant load
If chip load remains constant, the chip thinning
is very effective and while adapting many other
settings continuously the constant flow of material
allows the process to be extremely reliable and
efficient. The tool life of the cutting tool is also
prolonged since the machining is constant and
the thermal load is constant. It is important to
manage heat removal, to avoid sudden and early
tool failure. Material scientists have been aware
of this theoretical possibility for over 50 years, but
unfortunately technology was not up to speed.
In the last 5 years, cam systems enabled the
realization of these theories.

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DYNAMIC MILLING:
YES OR NO?
First and most important is to understand the
effectiveness in relation to certain component or
component features. In some cases, it is very well
possible the current strategy is still the best possible
or that an alternative strategy might be more
effective than Dynamic milling.
It depends on many factors but in general it can
be stated that a powerful machine and a very solid
set-up allowing large full slotting cuts is faster than
Dynamic milling strategies.

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A less stable and/or very shallow or very deep
component feature is very well suitable for High
feed machining strategies. When High feed
machining, the primary machining forces are led
into the axial direction.

Where in dynamic milling the engagement angle is

small, in High feed the tool mostly is applied with a
very large engagement angle.
The toolpaths look very similar because in both
the strategies the tools need to be in contact
with material as much as possible and maintain a
constant feed.

A benefit of High feed machining is that the

remaining stock in more complex (and deeper)
shapes can be machined much closer to its final
shape compared to a typical dynamic milling cycle.

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WHEN TO USE
DYNAMIC MILLING
If we define our window of opportunities for
Dynamic milling:
Any 2D, 2.5D and 3D component machined on a
typical machining 5-50Kw with and RPM of 3000-
50000 and modern controls and post processor.

To safely implement dynamic milling strategies,

it’s important to have:

1. Modern CAM software technology with dedicated

modules that focus on toolpath optimization.
These are called different in many programmes yet
essentially all do the same; making the roughing
path constant.

hyper MILL® MAXX Machining:

High-Performance Cutting functions (HPC)
to boost machining performance for 2.5D roughing.

Copyright © OPEN MIND

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2. CNC machines combining rigidity, power,
accuracy, high speed & feed movement and look-
ahead function for accurate and continuous
toolpaths. The machine is essential and as
mentioned before there are critical requirements
to allow the strategy to be applied and offer
maximized benefits. Look-ahead and linear drive
axis are allowing smooth toolpaths to be ran as
programmed. Of course, also on older, less-suitable,
machines a basic dynamic milling cycle can be
applied.

3. High-end cutting tools with geometries and

coatings created to optimize material removal for
specific material. Seco Tools offers premium tools
for such applications.

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9 TIPS TO ENTER THE
DYNAMIC MILLING WORLD
AND TO MAXIMIZE THE
BENEFITS WHILE
DOING SO!
1. Fine-tune stepover
Complex toolpaths are generated automatically
in your cam (additional) module. These should
always be aligned with the actual tool you use.
The geometry and especially the number of flutes
determines the maximum stepover or engagement
angle. 4 and 5 flute tools can easily handle 15-40%
where multi flute-tools can handle less (6 flutes
8-12% and more than six 5%).

2. Minimize runout
Run out in the setup of tool + holder is to be
minimized. While running at relative high cutting
speeds the run out impacts tool life significant.
Key to remember is a run out higher than 0,01
can reduce the tool life with as much as 50%.
Make sure to use a strong solid holder, such as
Seco Tools collet chucks HP (5672), hydraulic
chucks (5834) or shrinkfit holders.

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3. CAM/Toolpaths
The use of CAM software is will speed up
programming and also will generate the best
toolpaths, allowing you to work as efficient as
possible.
There are many of different CAM suppliers
and almost all offer Dynamic milling toolpath
programming or make use of a fully integrated
solution. Find the best one for your specific needs
and experience.
The names used in CAM systems also widely differ.
If in doubt, SECO can support you to identify the
right strategy in your respective CAM package.

Efficient programming and machining:

hyper MILL® for 2.5D drilling and milling tasks.

Copyright © OPEN MIND

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4. Depths of cut (APMX)
The effectiveness of DM increases when the depth
of cut can be increased. So, a 2D wall, or shoulder,
is ideal to maximize the DM benefit. The basic
depth of cut that is advised is 2 to 4 * the diameter
of the end mill. When complexity increases
Z-leveling and high-feed milling are interesting
strategies. Or the strategies can be combined.
Seco offers advanced, dedicated solid end mills.

5. Cutting parameters
In the different materials different cutting data
should be used to allow the tool to last as long as
possible and to make the machining cycle as
reliable as possible at the same time.
Seco Tools offers the pre-set data in Suggest and in
the pdf catalogs. These data fit the respective tool
in the DM-strategy and are defined during the
development of the specific tools.

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6. Chip splitter
Also, often enclosed cavities or smaller areas need
to be machined. Here it could be extremely helpful
to choose a tool with chip-splitter. Allowing the
removed material to exit from the critical cutting
area, preventing chip-jamming and double cuts.

7. Entering the material (ramp or helical)

Often a cycle that consumes just as much time as
the Dynamic milling part. To make sure the
entering part is reliable and fast, always double
check the position and the size of the entry
compared to the diameter of the cutter.
Two nice rules of thumb are:
ƒ 1.2*DC minimum ø of entry
ƒ 5° ramp and helical ramp max

This application case with the machining of a tibial

tray is an interesting example where the ramping
angle and the dynamic milling strategy are used.

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8. Workpiece quality/finishing operations
On the finishing operation a similar pass can be
programmed, ensure constant cutting edge and
corner radius that fits the stock and end-shape of
the component.

9. Special tools for special requirements

In a component many features are found.
Some cannot be covered by a standard tooling
solution. Think of undercuts and other complex
shapes. For requirements like this special tailored
end mills can be designed that offer a solution
while using the existing machines controls and
CAM.

Most of the square shoulder solutions can be

configured by customers in My Design, the new
automatic custom tooling configurator (registration
is needed) of Seco Tools.

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Do you have any
specific challenge,
goal, or question
related to solid end
milling?
Contact us, we will be
glad to help you!

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SECO TOOLS AB
SE-737 82 FAGERSTA, SWEDEN
TEL +46 (0)223 400 00
WWW.SECOTOOLS.COM
© SECO TOOLS AB, 2021.
All rights reserved.
Technical specifications are subject
to change whithout notice.

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