Unpopular opinion: bumping my feed and speed up 40% stopped my chatter on 6061
I was fighting chatter on a batch of 6061 brackets for like 2 hours last Tuesday, trying everything from re-chucking to shimming the vise. Then I said screw it and bumped my RPM from 3000 to 4200 and my feed from 20 to 28 IPM on the same 1/2 inch 3 flute. Chatter gone, surface finish came out way better, and I knocked 4 minutes off each part. I always thought slower was safer but now I'm second guessing every conservative program I ever wrote. Anyone else find that cranking the speed UP fixed a problem you thought called for backing off?