2" Banggood Face Mill Issues

I had surface finish problems with what looks like the same face mill on my Bridgeport mill. I sat it on my surface plate, and it rocked. I was able to loosen and retighten all the inserts, it no longer rocked, and the finish is good now...almost but not quite mirror on aluminum.
 
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Thanks for the excellent (if still scary) suggestion. I very carefully placed the mill on my plate and found one insert that I could slide a .002" shim under. That stopped the rocking. I first loosened all of the inserts and tightened them back up as it sat on the plate but that didn't help. So I loosened just the one insert and I was able to tighten it so that it only takes a .001" shim. So it's better (50% better!) but I think that's all there is. Given all of the other specs that are wrong with the R8 portion and the accuracy of my little mill, I think I'll be more than fine.
 
Rolling back to your picture of the Blued Carbide Inserts, the edge was certainly unfavorably radiused which encouraged more wiping than cutting when the depth of cut is small. If I were in you position, and had lacked your patience, those carbide edges and a diamond wheel would have had a serious date to change their profile (especially if they were slated to cut Aluminum).
 
I bought one of those cheap 2" face mills several months ago, used some used inserts I had salvaged from a previous employer, shimmed all four inserts so they were within .0003 or so in x and y, (lots of tweaking) and it cuts like a Sandvic Cormorant. Really nice finish in steel and aluminum. Thanks to 500 hrs of "tool setting" during my apprenticeship.
 
addertooth said:
Rolling back to your picture of the Blued Carbide Inserts, the edge was certainly unfavorably radiused which encouraged more wiping than cutting when the depth of cut is small. If I were in you position, and had lacked your patience, those carbide edges and a diamond wheel would have had a serious date to change their profile (especially if they were slated to cut Aluminum).
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Well, I don't have a diamond wheel and the cost would probably be more than the aluminum inserts so for me that was a non-starter. But even so, I could easily see myself ending up with more unevenness if I got my hands on a wheel and started trying to re-profile the blue inserts. ;)
 
Tony, you might consider a Sherline single insert fly cutter with a straight shank. It is essentially a little (1-1/8" cutting diameter) single insert face mill intended for low horsepower, low rigidity milling machines and it works extremely well in most materials a hobby guy is likely to encounter. It produces a near mirror finish in aluminum and produces an almost iridescent finish in most steels when the speed is right. I've used one for decades and while it has a limited cutting diameter, it can also cut to a shoulder so it is very useful. I also use this thing on my RF-30 and it works just as well on that mill.

Like most inserted carbide tools, this one likes speed. I run at 2800 rpm with aluminum and it finishes better than any end mill or other fly cutter that I have used, including HSS. Might want to take a look at it.
 
I bought one of those 2" face/end mills for my Clausing 8520 for those times when I have to machine steel or cast iron to get under the scale or metal that might be too hard for my HSS end mills . Even if used just to rough then finish with a HHS end mill or flycutter I dulled a few HSS and figured I didn't want to chance dulling a good USA end mill unless that would be the only alternative .
 
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