Alan Koski (10-13-2010) provided the following table and information.
The first two columns refer to the pulleys on his mill.
OK. Here is the chart that I have for my mill.
diameter (inches)
Alloy CRS mild Bron Alum Bras
set rpm 60 80 120 150 300 600 sfm
--- --- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
L D 92 2.5 3.3 5.0 6.2 12.5 25
L C 153 1.5 2.0 3.0 3.7 7.5 15
L B 233 1.0 1.3 2.0 2.5 4.9 9.8
1 D 338 .68 .90 1.4 1.7 3.4 6.8
1 C 562 .41 .54 .82 1.0 2.0 4.1
2 D 651 .35 .47 .70 .88 1.8 3.5
1 B 856 .27 .36 .54 .67 1.3 2.7
2 C 1082 .21 .28 .42 .53 1.1 2.1
3 D 1178 .19 .26 .39 .49 .97 1.9
2 A 2660 .086 .11 .17 .22 .43 .86
3 B 2966 .077 .10 .15 .19 .39 .77
3 A 4790 .048 .064 .096 .12 .24 .48
d = (12 * sfm) / (pi * rpm)
For the different kinds of material (across the page) with their
recommended surface speed, I list the various rpms and settings I
can get on my mill. The intersection of the two axes gives the
diameter of the tool (for high speed steel tools) from the formula.
I use that as a maximum. So, from my chart, I can quickly see
which rpm to use, or what size tool to use.
Tom's home page / tom@mmto.org