Speeds and Feeds Calculator for Milling Processes

Use the speeds and feeds calculator from Seco tools to quickly get safe cutting data for your specific application. You’ll improve quality and consistency.

How to Calculate safe Cutting Data

Part quality depends on establishing a set of cutting parameters that's optimized for your application. To balance production speed and results, you need to know where to start and how far to push your process. But how do you determine the proper values to use for speeds and feeds? To produce your best quality and meet all your production objectives, begin with the right assumptions and calculations.

Make a safe start

Using the wrong cutting data can damage your machine tool, the fixturing, compromise your part quality and shorten tool life. When you search for the right starting point, you'll notice that many tooling suppliers refer to what they call "optimal" cutting data. They make it sound as if an objective standard applies to every production situation. What they fail to mention is that what's "optimal" for one job may not be so ideal for another. That's because you must interpret cutting data in light of your specific objectives. Do you want to prioritize tool life? Are you trying to maximize your material removal rate (MRR)? To optimize your cutting data, you first need to define what’s important for you.

Browse through tooling catalogs and you see manufacturer-supplied starting values listed for each tool. Those values sound like a great place to begin – but if you expect to find the ideal setup through a process of manual adjustments, you may waste time and scrap parts. In today's ever-faster production environments, short deadlines and pricing pressure don't leave much room for experimentation. Instead of trial and error, use an online feed and speed calculator to find safe cutting data quickly and easily. You'll gain reliable processes and reduce your scrap rate.

Find the right calculator

To eliminate manual adjustments and help you determine safe starting values, you'll find a feed and speed calculator for all standard Seco tools on the respective product page. When you select a tool, you'll see basic values for it in the "Cutting Data" tab. To refine your approach, use the calculator to obtain values based on your specifications.

When you log in to your Seco account, you find even more ways to refine your calculations, including data ranges to use if you want to push your productivity or increase your tool life. Cutting data graphs provide an overview of your cutting parameters and how to optimize them. If your machine tool has limited power, torque or RPM, you can add this information and recalculate parameters according to your conditions. If you don't yet have a Seco account, apply for an account here.

The Seco online feed and speed calculator gives you the following:

Safe, reliable cutting parameters. When you first begin using a tool, these may be more important than striving for maximizing productivity.
Cutting parameters adjusted for your application. These represent your unique cutting data, which you won't find anywhere else.
Calculated material removal rate (MRR) and estimated tool life so you can plan for productivity and assess costs.
Additional values, including estimates of torque and power consumption.

How to use the Seco calculator

The Seco feed and speed calculator is easy to use. Watch our video or take the following steps:

Choose the tool and select the insert.
Select the material. Choose the SMG or type in the name.
Select the cutting method.
Receive workable starting values.
Adjust parameters to optimize the cutting data.
See instant results that you can redefine at any time.
Save your calculations as a downloadable PDF or share them with colleagues or your Seco Sales Representative.

Make a confident start with the Seco online feed and speed calculator. Remember that metal-cutting experience helps you get the best out of every tool, including our online calculator.

Discover our feed and speed calculator on our product pages or contact your Seco Sales Representative for more information.

Tip: Cutting data on the go

Check cutting values quickly on your smartphone with immediate access to the cutting data calculator within the Seco Assistant smartphone app's Utilities. This light version provides common machining calculations without selecting the material. Find starting values in online mode.