Machining a part requires knowing the correct speeds and feeds for a cutting tool and material; a skill that can take years to master. What if a resource existed that made it possible for anyone to run a CNC machine and successfully cut a range of materials - from plastic to stainless steel to titanium? What if the same resource could help seasoned machinist learn how to optimize a new cutting tool or a new material?
10 years ago, I bought a benchtop CNC mill to develop a product. I needed to learn manufacturing basics to improve the odds of the business succeeding, but machining, CAD, CAM, and cutting tools were foreign topics to me. I soaked up every resource I could find in a pre-YouTube world and fell in love with machining.
Countless resources have since emerged that shorten the learning curve for manufacturing entrepreneurs: affordable CAD & CAM software, YouTube channels dedicated to CNC (including our own, NYC CNC), online and hands-on training classes, and the resurgence of manufacturing through re-shoring, maker-spaces and in-sourcing. Yet we continued to see people struggle with speeds & feeds - whether they were new to machining, working with a new material, or trying to optimize a new cutting tool.
The manufacturing world needed a modern solution for speeds and feeds – a solution that accounting for new CAM toolpath strategies, modern CNC machine capabilities and a user-friendly, intelligent interface. The idea for ProvenCut was born. It would offer video tutorials backed with comprehensive cutting and tool information with pre-programmed CAM operations to help anyone run a CNC machine and make parts.
ProvenCut launched in August 2019. The user response has been exceptional with feedback ranging from, “You saved me hours of testing a new tool for stainless steel” to “ProvenCut is like watching High Definition TV after spending your whole life reading in plain text."
Each ProvenCut recipe includes:
- Video footage of the cut, allowing users to watch and listen as if standing next to a skilled machinist.
- Photographs of the cutting tool, the chips made during the cut, and machine setup.
- Links to purchase tools, tool holders, and raw material.
- Comprehensive cut data ranging from coolant to gage length to horsepower.
- A link to automatically open the cutting tool and CAM operation in Fusion 360.
ProvenCut recipes can be filtered by almost any machining criteria. Examples include: machine tool brand, gage length, number of flutes, coolant type (flood, thru-Spindle, dry), machine horsepower, tool holder style, tool type, and more. The filter options are unparalleled in the “speeds and feeds” world when compared with other resources, including manufacturer “starting recommendations”, PDF guides, or calculators.
ProvenCut Users can also subscribe to updates based on certain filters to be notified in their feed or via a weekly email when new recipes have been added. Dimensional units can be switched from imperial (a.k.a. “inch”) to metric with a master toggle and a simple mouse-hover over any dimension will pop up the alternate unit. Recipes can be starred as favorite and users can add cutting tools to their My Tools library to filter Recipe results by cutting tools that they own and have on-hand.
Recipes are created at Saunders Machine Works which operates over a dozen CNC machines ranging from a FANUC Robodrill to a HAAS UMC-750. Our success running NYC CNC, the leading CNC YouTube channel with over 300,000 subscribers meant we knew how to film machines and had a great audience to help kickstart ProvenCut. ProvenCut has also worked with select partners to create recipes on machines ranging from the popular Datron Neo to high-end Mori Seiki mold machines.
ProvenCut is constantly expanding its CNC machines, recipes, and materials, as well as adding new types of CNC machines including lathes and turning centers as we reduce the barriers and allow anyone to succeed with CNC machining!
Related Glossary Terms
- centers
centers
Cone-shaped pins that support a workpiece by one or two ends during machining. The centers fit into holes drilled in the workpiece ends. Centers that turn with the workpiece are called “live” centers; those that do not are called “dead” centers.
- computer numerical control ( CNC)
computer numerical control ( CNC)
Microprocessor-based controller dedicated to a machine tool that permits the creation or modification of parts. Programmed numerical control activates the machine’s servos and spindle drives and controls the various machining operations. See DNC, direct numerical control; NC, numerical control.
- computer-aided design ( CAD)
computer-aided design ( CAD)
Product-design functions performed with the help of computers and special software.
- computer-aided manufacturing ( CAM)
computer-aided manufacturing ( CAM)
Use of computers to control machining and manufacturing processes.
- coolant
coolant
Fluid that reduces temperature buildup at the tool/workpiece interface during machining. Normally takes the form of a liquid such as soluble or chemical mixtures (semisynthetic, synthetic) but can be pressurized air or other gas. Because of water’s ability to absorb great quantities of heat, it is widely used as a coolant and vehicle for various cutting compounds, with the water-to-compound ratio varying with the machining task. See cutting fluid; semisynthetic cutting fluid; soluble-oil cutting fluid; synthetic cutting fluid.
- feed
feed
Rate of change of position of the tool as a whole, relative to the workpiece while cutting.
- flutes
flutes
Grooves and spaces in the body of a tool that permit chip removal from, and cutting-fluid application to, the point of cut.
- milling machine ( mill)
milling machine ( mill)
Runs endmills and arbor-mounted milling cutters. Features include a head with a spindle that drives the cutters; a column, knee and table that provide motion in the three Cartesian axes; and a base that supports the components and houses the cutting-fluid pump and reservoir. The work is mounted on the table and fed into the rotating cutter or endmill to accomplish the milling steps; vertical milling machines also feed endmills into the work by means of a spindle-mounted quill. Models range from small manual machines to big bed-type and duplex mills. All take one of three basic forms: vertical, horizontal or convertible horizontal/vertical. Vertical machines may be knee-type (the table is mounted on a knee that can be elevated) or bed-type (the table is securely supported and only moves horizontally). In general, horizontal machines are bigger and more powerful, while vertical machines are lighter but more versatile and easier to set up and operate.
- toolpath( cutter path)
toolpath( cutter path)
2-D or 3-D path generated by program code or a CAM system and followed by tool when machining a part.
- turning
turning
Workpiece is held in a chuck, mounted on a face plate or secured between centers and rotated while a cutting tool, normally a single-point tool, is fed into it along its periphery or across its end or face. Takes the form of straight turning (cutting along the periphery of the workpiece); taper turning (creating a taper); step turning (turning different-size diameters on the same work); chamfering (beveling an edge or shoulder); facing (cutting on an end); turning threads (usually external but can be internal); roughing (high-volume metal removal); and finishing (final light cuts). Performed on lathes, turning centers, chucking machines, automatic screw machines and similar machines.
Author
John Saunders owns and operates Saunders Machine Works, a manufacturer of machine shop tools and fixture plates. He documents his machining and entrepreneurial endeavors on the YouTube channel NYC CNC and is founder of ProvenCut, a website with a video library of speeds and feeds.
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