CNC Machining Guide: 304 Stainless Steel vs 316 Stainless Steel

A Comprehensive Technical Comparison Focused on CNC Machining Processes

• Machining Difficulty: ★★★☆☆ (Medium)

• Surface Quality: ★★★★☆ (Good)

• Machining Efficiency: ★★★★☆ (High)

• Tool Life: ★★★☆☆ (Medium)

• Cost Efficiency: ★★★★★ (Excellent)

• Machining Difficulty: ★★★★★ (Difficult)

• Surface Quality: ★★★★★ (Excellent)

• Machining Efficiency: ★★☆☆☆ (Low)

• Tool Life: ★★☆☆☆ (Short)

• Cost Efficiency: ★★☆☆☆ (Low)

• Material Property: Moderate toughness, medium work hardening

• Chip Formation: Spiral chips, relatively easy to break

• Tool Adhesion: Medium, easy to adhere at high cutting speeds

• Surface Roughness: Ra 1.6-3.2μm

• Machining Advantages:

• • Relatively small cutting force

• • Uniform tool wear

• • Good machining stability

• Material Property: High toughness, severe work hardening

• Chip Formation: Continuous chips, difficult to break

• Tool Adhesion: Severe, easy to form built-up edge

• Surface Roughness: Ra 0.8-1.6μm

• Machining Challenges:

• • Large cutting force, fast tool wear

• • High machining temperature

• • Easy to produce chatter marks

• Preferred: High-speed steel (HSS-Co) or coated HSS

• Alternative: Regular carbide

• Recommended Coating: TiN or TiAlN coating

• Rake Angle: 10°-15°

• Clearance Angle: 8°-12°

• Edge Angle: 0°-5°

• Tool Nose Radius: 0.4-1.2mm

• Milling Speed: 1000-2000 rpm

• Feed Rate: 150-300 mm/min

• Cutting Depth: 3-8mm (roughing), 0.5-2mm (finishing)

• Cutting Width: 50-70% of tool diameter

• Must Use: Ultra-fine grain carbide

• Recommended Grade: WC-Co alloy with 8-12% Co content

• Recommended Coating: TiAlN or AlTiN coating

• Rake Angle: 5°-10° (smaller angle for increased strength)

• Clearance Angle: 6°-10°

• Edge Angle: -5°-0°

• Tool Nose Radius: 0.8-1.6mm (larger radius for increased strength)

• Milling Speed: 800-1500 rpm

• Feed Rate: 100-200 mm/min

• Cutting Depth: 2-5mm (roughing), 0.3-1mm (finishing)

• Cutting Width: 40-60% of tool diameter

• Type: Emulsion or semi-synthetic cutting fluid

• Concentration: 6-10%

• Flow Rate: Moderate

• Pressure: Medium pressure

• Use regular cooling system

• Ensure sufficient lubrication

• Regularly check coolant condition

• Type: Extreme pressure emulsion or fully synthetic cutting fluid

• Concentration: 8-12%

• Flow Rate: High flow rate, 20-30% more than 304

• Pressure: High pressure cooling (3-5 bar)

• Use high-pressure cooling system

• Adopt through-tool cooling

• Direct cooling to cutting zone

• Maintain clean coolant

1. Roughing: High feed rate, medium depth of cut

2. Semi-finishing: Medium parameters

3. Finishing: High speed, low feed rate

• Can use larger cutting parameters

• Longer tool life, suitable for mass production

• Good machining stability, easy to ensure accuracy

1. Roughing: Low feed rate, small depth of cut, multiple passes

2. Semi-finishing: Gradually increase feed rate

3. Finishing: Very small cutting parameters

• Must use layered cutting

• Control machining temperature to avoid overheating

• Timely chip removal to prevent entanglement

• Frequently check tool wear

• Symptom: Tool marks or excessive roughness

• Cause: Tool wear, excessive feed rate

• Solutions:

• • Replace tools timely

• • Reduce feed rate

• • Increase cutting speed

• Symptom: Large dimensional variation

• Cause: Machining temperature changes, tool wear

• Solutions:

• • Control machining temperature

• • Measure dimensions regularly

• • Optimize cutting parameters

• Symptom: Very short tool life, frequent replacement

• Cause: High material hardness, severe work hardening

• Solutions:

• • Use higher quality carbide tools

• • Reduce cutting speed

• • Increase cooling and lubrication

• • Reduce cutting depth

• Symptom: Wavy marks on machined surface

• Cause: Excessive cutting force, insufficient system rigidity

• Solutions:

• • Reduce cutting parameters

• • Increase system rigidity

• • Use vibration-damping tools

• • Optimize tool path

• Symptom: Chips get tangled around tool and workpiece

• Cause: High material toughness, chips not easy to break

• Solutions:

• • Use chip breaker tools

• • Optimize cutting parameters

• • Increase cooling pressure

• • Clean chips promptly

• Relatively uniform wear

• Mainly flank wear

• Longer tool life (100-200 minutes)

• Regularly check tool condition

• Observe changes in cutting sound

• Monitor changes in surface quality

• Fast wear rate

• Easy to produce crater wear

• Short tool life (30-80 minutes)

• Frequently check tool condition (every 10-15 minutes)

• Use tool wear monitoring system

• Establish tool replacement standards

• Tool Cost: Low (long tool life)

• Labor Cost: Low (high machining efficiency)

• Equipment Cost: Low (low equipment wear)

• Tool Cost: High (fast tool wear, short life)

• Labor Cost: High (long machining time)

• Equipment Cost: High (high equipment load)

• Feed Control: Can use higher feed rates

• Speed Control: Medium speed achieves good results

• Cooling Control: Regular cooling settings

• Feed Override: Normal setting

• Spindle Override: Can appropriately increase

• Tool Compensation: Regular setting

• Feed Control: Use segmented feeding, gradually increase

• Speed Control: Low speed, high torque

• Cooling Control: Enhanced cooling settings

• Feed Override: Appropriately reduce

• Spindle Override: Conservative setting

• Tool Compensation: Frequently update tool compensation values

• Regular Maintenance: Follow standard maintenance schedule

• Cooling System: Regular inspection and cleaning

• Guideway System: Regular lubrication

• Spindle System: Frequently check spindle accuracy and temperature

• Cooling System: Enhanced maintenance, regular coolant replacement

• Guideway System: Enhanced lubrication and cleaning

• Tool System: Check rigidity of tool holding system

• Personal Protection: Standard protective equipment

• Equipment Protection: Regular safety protection

• Operation Standards: Standard operating procedures

• Personal Protection: Enhanced protection, especially eye protection

• Equipment Protection: Check equipment rigidity and stability

• Operation Standards: Strictly control machining parameters

• Monitoring Requirements: Enhanced machining process monitoring

• Dimensional Accuracy: Regularly measure key dimensions

• Surface Quality: Visual inspection and roughness measurement

• Tool Condition: Regularly check tool wear

• Dimensional Accuracy: Frequent measurement, timely adjustment

• Surface Quality: Focus on surface finish inspection

• Tool Condition: Frequently check tool wear and cutting condition

• Machining Temperature: Monitor temperature in machining area

This professional CNC machining technical guide will help operators better understand and master the machining characteristics of 304 and 316 stainless steel, improving machining efficiency and product quality.

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