Imperial Metric tools

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GJHall
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Imperial Metric tools

Post by GJHall »

Newbie,

I have the opportunity to get some metric spiral bits.

My question is can you use both imperial and metric bits in a cut job?

TIA

Gary

CosmosK
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Re: Imperial Metric tools

Post by CosmosK »

sure, just set them up in your tool database
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IslaWW
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Re: Imperial Metric tools

Post by IslaWW »

Yes you may. The bit diameter will be converted to VCPro's native units. Make sure your feeds and speeds are also.
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martin54
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Re: Imperial Metric tools

Post by martin54 »

IslaWW wrote:Yes you may. The bit diameter will be converted to VCPro's native units. Make sure your feeds and speeds are also.
Gary I would actually advise leaving the feed rates as they are, I have & still do work in either metric of imperial units, old enough to have gone to school when imperial still existed in the uk & still at school when decimalisation came in. During my time in the RN there was a combination of both metric & imperial machinery so had to be able to work with either.
Most of the work I do now is actually metric especially when I have to draw stuff accurately & the vast majority of the bits I have are also metric as that is what the vast majority of suppliers sell BUT all my feed rates are set to "Inches per Minute" for some reason I just find that easier for me to visualise & as the software doesn't mind & does the calculations for me it doesn't matter :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Leo
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Re: Imperial Metric tools

Post by Leo »

Vectric doesn't care if it is mm or inches.

All that matters is that you use the same units throughout the process.

A 3 mm end mill is .118 thousandths.

If you are doing work in mm, then the end mill is 3mm.
Use feeds and speeds in metric units

If you are working in inches, then the end mill is .118
Use feed and speed in imperial units
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Re: Imperial Metric tools

Post by cac67 »

Leo wrote:Vectric doesn't care if it is mm or inches.

All that matters is that you use the same units throughout the process.

A 3 mm end mill is .118 thousandths.

If you are doing work in mm, then the end mill is 3mm.
Use feeds and speeds in metric units

If you are working in inches, then the end mill is .118
Use feed and speed in imperial units
That doesn't really matter to the software either. If you're working in inch and the time comes to generate a tool path you can select a metric bit and the software will handle any conversions accurately. Then you can select an imperial or metric post processor and it will handle that too. If you're drawing vectors and you need to re-size or something you can put the metric size in the box with whatever*m= and let it do it for you. See this link.

The danger of this is confusing yourself. It's not a problem for the software.

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martin54
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Re: Imperial Metric tools

Post by martin54 »

OK you guys have a lot more experience with vectric software than me but does it really matter about keeping the units the same through out ? Most of my bits are metric with a few imperial tools I bought because they were on very special offer or I couldn't find a metric equivalent.

I have them set up in the tooldatabase as either metric or imperial tools as far as diameter goes, but the feed rates are all set at inches per minute rather than the metric equivalent purely because I can visualise that better than mm per minute in my mind :lol: :lol:

I've never had any problems & didn't think it really mattered as long as I used the right post processor to generate the G code.

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Re: Imperial Metric tools

Post by Paul Z »

Just be sure that you have the correct collet(s) or the inexpensive bits could become very expensive.

Paul Z

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martin54
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Re: Imperial Metric tools

Post by martin54 »

Paul Z wrote:Just be sure that you have the correct collet(s) or the inexpensive bits could become very expensive.

Paul Z
That's actually a very good point Paul, if the OP is running a router then obtaining the correct sized collets may be a problem especially if the collet size is limited as it is with some brands of router.

I have a Chinese spindle with an ER20 collet chuck which you can purchase both metric & imperial collets for :lol: :lol:

GJHall
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Re: Imperial Metric tools

Post by GJHall »

Thank you all for your reply's. I will be able to use some of the metric bits I have gotten over the last few years. WE have metric here in Canada, but a lot of the tools are in imperial.

Thank you all,

Gary

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Re: Imperial Metric tools

Post by adze_cnc »

Leo wrote:A 3 mm end mill is .118 thousandths.
Wouldn't .118 thousandths actually be 0.000118? :D

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