Speeds and Feeds Guide

Welcome to the Speeds and Feeds Guide.

Using the Data Tables and the Milling Formulas below, you can calculate the speeds and feeds of Carbide End Mills, Diamond End Mills and Plastic Cutting Carbide End Mills.

Milling Formulas

RPM = (3.82 x SFM) / D
IPM = RPM x IPR
IPM = RPM x IPT x T

Glossary

SFM - Surface Feet per Minute
RPM - Revolutions per Minute (Speed)
IPT - Inches Per Tooth (Chip Load)
IPR - Inches Per Revolution
IPM = Inches Per Minute (Feed)
D - Cutter Diameter
T - Number of Teeth


SPEEDS & FEEDS - CARBIDE END MILLS
NON-FERROUS			CHIP LOAD (IPT, BASED ON CUTTER DIAMETER)
MATERIAL	GRADE	SFM	1/8"	3/16"	1/4"	3/8"	1/2"	5/8"	3/4"	1"
Aluminum Aluminum Copper Copper Copper Alloys Copper Alloys Magnesium Plastics Plastics Carbon	440, 356, 380, C61300 2024-T4/T6, 2014, 6061-T6/T651, 7075-T6 Navel Brass, High Silicon Bronze, A-17, C-17200 Yellow Brass, High Lead Brass, Red Brass Nickel Silver, Beryllium Copper, Oxygen-Free Copper Alum/Bronze, Low Silicon Bronze Die-Cast, Extruded Polycarbonate Acrylics, Phenolics, Polysulfone Carbon, Graphites	500-1000 800-1500 600-1000 800-1500 700-1000 800-1000 1000 min 200-500 200-600 500-1000	.001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .004	.002 .002 .001 .001 .001 .001 .002 .002 .002 .004	.002 .002 .002 .002 .002 .002 .002 .003 .003 .006	.003 .003 .0025 .0025 .0025 .0025 .003 .004 .004 .008	.004 .004 .003 .003 .003 .003 .004 .006 .006 .010	.005 .005 .004 .004 .004 .004 .006 .008 .008 .010	.006 .006 .004 .004 .004 .004 .008 .010 .010 .015	.007 .007 .005 .005 .005 .005 .009 .015 .015 .020
IRON - STEEL - STAINLESS			CHIP LOAD (IPT, BASED ON CUTTER DIAMETER)
MATERIAL	GRADE	SFM	1/8"	3/16"	1/4"	3/8"	1/2"	5/8"	3/4"	1"
Ductile Iron Ductile Iron Ductile Iron Ductile Iron	Gray Cast Iron Ductile Cast Iron - Soft Ductile Cast Iron - Hard Malleable, Chilled	100-400 80-140 100-400 90-2500	.0005 .0005 .0005 .0005	.001 .001 .001 .001	.002 .0015 .0015 .002	.003 .002 .002 .003	.004 .002 .002 .004	.005 .003 .003 .005	.006 .004 .004 .006	.008 .005 .005 .008
Low Alloy Low Alloy Medium Alloy Medium Alloy High Alloy High Alloy High Strength High Strength	23XX, 31XX 10XX, 11XX, 13XX 200, 250, 301 200, 250, 300 Hy-Tugg, Stressproof, AmorPlate A-2/6/10, P-3/10, 01, 02, 06 4340M, EDT-150, HP9-430, 300M, D6-Ac, 11-10 4340, 6150, 52100, H-11, H-13	100-150 100-300 100-350 60-120 50-150 100-250 80-180 50-250	.0005 .0005 .0005 .0005 .0005 .0005 .0005 .0005	.001 .001 .0005 .0005 .0005 .0005 .0005 .0005	.0015 .0015 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001	.002 .002 .002 .002 .001 .001 .001 .001	.003 .003 .0025 .0025 .001 .001 .001 .001	.004 .004 .0035 .0035 .0015 .0015 .0015 .0015	.005 .005 .004 .004 .002 .002 .002 .002	.006 .006 .005 .005 .004 .004 .004 .004
Austenic Austenic Precipitation Precipitation Martensitic Martensitic	304, 310, 314, 316, 321, 330, 347, 348, 21-6-9 200 Series, 302, 303, 304L, 316L 17/4, 17/7, AF-71, Custom 450/636, 15/7 Mo, 21-6-9 13/8, 15/5, AM-350/355 420, 430F, 440C, 446 403, 410, 416	100-250 100-350 90-250 100-250 90-250 100-250	.0001 .0001 .0005 .0005 .0001 .0001	.0002 .0002 .0005 .0005 .0002 .0002	.0005 .0005 .001 .001 .0005 .0005	.001 .001 .001 .001 .0005 .0005	.0015 .0015 .002 .002 .001 .001	.002 .002 .002 .002 .001 .001	.003 .003 .004 .004 .003 .003	.004 .004 .006 .006 .004 .004
HIGH TEMPERATURE ALLOYS - TITANIUM			CHIP LOAD (IPT, BASED ON CUTTER DIAMETER)
MATERIAL	GRADE	SFM	1/8"	3/16"	1/4"	3/8"	1/2"	5/8"	3/4"	1"
Cobalt Base Cobalt Base Iron Base Iron Base Nickel Base Nickel Base	Air-Resist 13/213/215, Haynes 21/36, NASA CO-W-RE Stellite, HS-21, HAYNES25/188, X-40, L-605 A-286, Haynes 556, Discoly, V57 Incoly 600-802, Multimet N-155, Timkin 16-25-6 Hastalloy-C/B/X, INCONEL 718/X/W, Waspalloy, Rene 41-95 INCONEL 600/625, Nickel 200-270, Monel 400-405	40-80 60-100 50-80 80-100 40-60 45-100	.0004 .0004 .0005 .0005 .0005 .0005	.0005 .0005 .0005 .0005 .0005 .0005	.001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001	.001 .001 .0015 .0015 .001 .001	.001 .001 .002 .002 .002 .002	.001 .001 .0025 .0025 .0025 .0025	.0015 .0015 .003 .003 .003 .003	.002 .002 .004 .004 .004 .004
Titanium Alloy Titanium Alloy	5AL-2.5Sn-Eli, 8Al-1 Mo-1V Commercially, Pure, 6AL-4V, Astm 1/2/3, 6AL-25N-4Zr-2Mo-Si	90-120 50-250	.0005 .0005	.0005 .0005	.0005 .0005	.001 .001	.001 .001	.0015 .0015	.002 .002	.004 .004

SPEEDS & FEEDS - DIAMOND END MILLS
NON-FERROUS ONLY			CHIP LOAD OF GRAPHITE ONLY (IPT, BASED ON CUTTER DIAMETER)
MATERIAL	SFM	CHIP LOAD (IPT)	DIAMETER	SOFT	MEDIUM	HARD
Aluminum (5%-8% Si) Aluminum (8%-12% Si) Aluminum (14%-18% Si) Copper Bronze Brass Babbit Unfilled Plastic Glass Fiber Materials Ceramic Materials (Green) Carbon Composites Carbon (Graphite)	2000 - 6000 1500 - 5000 1000 - 3000 750 - 1500 900 - 1350 2000 - 4000 700 - 1000 1000 - 4000 750 - 1500 500 - 1500 500 - 2000 500 - 2000	.005 - .010 .004 - .008 .002 - .006 .001 - .008 .003 - .008 .001 - .008 .003 - .010 .003 - .020 .001 - .010 .002 - .010 .003 - .015 see right	1/32" 1/16" 3/32" 1/8" 3/16" 1/4" 5/16" 3/8" 7/16" 1/2"	.0005-.0006 .0010-.0013 .0015-.0019 .0020-.0025 .0030-.0038 .0040-.0050 .0050-.0063 .0006-.0075 .0070-.0088 .0080-.0100	.0004-.0005 .0008-.0010 .0011-.0015 .0015-.0020 .0023-.0030 .0030-.0040 .0038-.0050 .0045-.0060 .0053-.0070 .0060-.0080	.0003-.0004 .0005-.0008 .0008-.0011 .0010-.0015 .0015-.0023 .0020-.0030 .0025-.0038 .0030-.0045 .0035-.0053 .0040-.0060
In general, the same speeds and feeds used for Carbide cutters can be used for Diamond. To maximize tool life, start with the Carbide settings and adjust speed and then feed.

SPEEDS & FEEDS - PLASTIC CUTTING END MILLS
		CHIP LOAD (IPT, BASED ON CUTTER DIAMETER)
TOOL SERIES	RPM	1/16"	1/8"	3/16"	1/4"	3/8"	1/2"	5/8"	3/4"
14100-00 14200-00 14400 14500 14600	UP TO 18,000 UP TO 18,000 UP TO 18,000 UP TO 18,000 UP TO 18,000	.002 - .004 .002 - .004	.004 - .006 .004 - .006 .002 - .004	.006 - .008 .006 - .008 .004 - .006	.008 - .012 .008 - .012 .004 - .006	.008 - .012 .008 - .012 .006 - .008	.012 - .014 .010 - .012	.014 - .016 .012 - .014	.016 - .018 .014 - .016