5 ms·
My understanding is that using a ball end mill to "drill out" a hemisphere while perpendicular to your surface will create very high forces that are bad for the
by oflannabhra 7y ago
My understanding is that using a ball end mill to "drill out" a hemisphere while perpendicular to your surface will create very high forces that are bad for the tool. I'd imagine you could offset the tool axis and then achieve the same effect, but using a smaller tool might end up being easier.
Please note that I am far from even a beginner machinist.
- neetdeth 7y agoRight, that's the idea I was trying to express. Don't expect anything good to happen if you try to plunge a ball end mill straight down into the material. The thought was only that a large-radius ball would be able to approximate the sphere to within tolerance with larger stepover than a smaller tool. After bulk material removal with a more suitable cylindrical tool of course. With a little bit of googling I discovered a different class of end mill called a circle segment tool, which could potentially make short work of the problem in a 5-axis machine: https://www.moldmakingtechnology.com/videos/circle-segment-tools-and-toolpaths-in-action https://www.moldmakingtechnology.com/videos/circle-segment-t... Would love to see how Apple does it, but it's never happening. I'm not really a machinist either, but let's not allow that to stop us from incorrecting each other on HN!
- 6nf 7y agoThe stock material is aluminium alloy, it’s not that hard on tooling.