CNC Tooling, Cutting Parameters & Feeds and Speeds
Everything that touches the cut: tool materials, coatings, geometry, and the cutting parameters (Vc, fz, ap, ae) that actually work on each workpiece material. Written from real shop data — not catalogue copy.
How to use this section.
These are shop-floor guides rather than catalogue copy: each one names the parameters, the failure mode they cause, and the correction. Values are cross-checked against ISO and cutting-tool manufacturer data. For the formulas and grade tables, see Feeds and Speeds.
Machining Guides by Workpiece Material
- Machining Stainless Steel: 304, 316 and 17-4 PHFive recurring shop-floor problems — work hardening, parameter differences between grades, tool wear, threading and finishing — and the correction for each
- Machining Titanium Without Destroying ToolsSix challenges with Grade 2 and Grade 5: parameter windows, springback, galling, heat build-up, chip evacuation and how deflection shows up as a rejected part
- Machining Inconel 718 Without Breaking ToolsSix recurring problems on the most common nickel superalloy — cutting parameters, work hardening, deep holes, chatter, and tool life economics
How this section is built
Every page follows the same template: a decision table at the top (which tool / which parameter for which job), data tables in the middle (cross-checked against ISO 8688, Sandvik Coromant, Kennametal), and a “common mistakes” block at the end. Each numerical recommendation cites its source.