GibbsCAM VoluMill – ”dynamic milling”
Dynamic milling is here to stay. The technology has been around for a number of years now, but is to be considered a minor revolution compared to traditional "pocket milling". GibbsCAM VoluMill offers a simple but highly efficient way to CAM program dynamic rough milling.
Milling with Constant Load
GibbsCAM VoluMill varies the feedrate with ACTC (Active Chip Thickness Control) so that the load on the tool and spindle is kept almost CONSTANT even at high feeds and high material removal rates. With VoluMill, milling is done using fairly small side cuts and instead large depth steps. This way, the entire cutting edge of the tool is used for removing material which allows for much better heat dissipation. Also, wear is distributed over a larger part of the tool, instead of just on the tip (like in traditional offset milling). When it comes to choice of tool for dynamic milling, a 4-, 5- or 6-flute solid carbide end mill with big core diameter is typically the best.
Volumill dynamic toolpath with lots of circular moves
Ideal for difficult materials
If you are milling in hardened steel, inconel or other difficult material, dynamic milling is to be considered a must if you want to be competitive. Those who use dynamic milling produce parts faster with lower tool costs and also have very good control over restmaterial during programming.
Easy programming directly on solid
With Volumill, you can quickly create roughing toolpaths directly on solid models, both flat 2D surfaces and more difficult curved shapes are supported. Just click on the surface(s) and then "DO IT" - easy! You do not need to draw boundary geometries or select any edges on the 3D model. In most cases, this means very fast and flexible programming. VoluMill also has full support for restmaterial machining.
Typical advantages with VoluMill:
- Faster cutting (30-70% timesavings are normal)
- Increased Tool life (especially when machining hard materials)
- More equal spindle load (traditional milling has load peaks)
- Soft toolpath (circular moves, not only linear)
- HiFeed moves between cuts saves time
- Full support for restmaterial machining
- Can be used in Milling and Millturn machines with live tools
- Supports both simple 2D and complex 3D shapes
- Last but not least - GibbsCAM VoluMill is very easy to use
GibbsCAM simulation of external and internal dynamic milling
"Dynamic milling" could actually be translated "milling with constant load". Constant load can be achieved in a few different ways – you can vary the sidestep, or you can vary the feed as the load increases. GibbsCAM supports both of these technologies. In our Adaptive Milling, the sidestep is varied to achieve a constant engagement angle. In VoluMill, variable feedrate is used which reduces the load when the radii of the tool path is small (at internal corners, for example). These technologies allow the programmer to use extremely high feedrates.
VIDEO – GibbsCAM VoluMill dynamic milling - feedrate 8000mm/min in SS1650 steel
About GibbsCAM
GibbsCAM is a leading CAM solution for programming CNC machines for metal cutting. Designed to increase the efficiency of machineshops where profitability is driven by GibbsCAM toolpaths and post processors that optimize the efficiency of the CNC machine. GibbsCAM can interact with all major CAD systems and supports 2- to 5-axis milling, turning, multi-task machining (MTM), Swiss and WireEDM.
For more information, call 08-59411630.
