Application cases of end mills in the processing of decorative materials

End mills are widely used in the processing of decorative materials. The following specific cases illustrate their application methods and advantages:

Glass material processing

Cutting characteristics: The end mill cuts glass in a plastic-brittle mixed mode. When rotating, it moves from bottom to top, and the cutting edge trajectory forms the machined surface. Keeping the cutting thickness below 1μm can prevent the machined surface from suffering brittle damage.

Processing example: A hard alloy ball-end milling cutter with a diameter of 4mm and a ball end curvature radius of 0.2mm was used. The tool surface was coated with TiAlN coating. The cutting process was carried out in water at a speed of 80,000 RPM, a feed rate of 0.06mm/min, and a cutting depth of 18μm, which can achieve a better surface quality of the processed parts.

Effect comparison: The surface quality of dry cutting is worse than that of wet cutting. Brittle damage can be observed in the groove section, and the cutting surface is incomplete with unstable groove width. When cutting in water, due to the reduced mechanical strength of the glass, the machinability can be improved.

Right-angle groove processing

Application example: In the processing of right-angle grooves formed by longitudinal grooves with a depth of 20μm (width of 196μm) and transverse grooves with a depth of 15μm (width of 152μm) on optical glass, the tools used were ball-end mills with diameters of 0.4mm and 0.5mm, the spindle speed was 20,000 RPM, the feed rate was 0.48mm/min, and wet cutting was adopted.

Processing effect: There is no brittle damage on the machined surface after cutting, and the condition is good. The depth of the fine grooves required for the inspection of the substrate is generally around 100-200μm. By setting appropriate cutting conditions, even if a single cutting of over 100μm is carried out, the processing can be achieved without damaging the glass.