Do HSS End Mills still serve a viable purpose for the home machinist?

[ChazzC]

great suggestion woodchucker on radius end mills. that would minimize the chipped corners, i should try a few with at least a .010" cr. On the tips though that i have broken, they've been on drill/mills. i generally don't use them except in circumstances where i have to drill a hole on a radius surface. hate it when that happens.
definitely agree with having rigidity too jwmay

If you need to drill a hole on a curved surface, just spit face the surface then finish with a drill. If you need a square bottom you can clean up the bottom with an end mill after drilling. See this post:

Accusize 5" 3-Jaw Chuck Fitting

Part 1

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[ChazzC]

I guess it depends on your definition of Hobbyist: most “Hobbyist” machines don’t have the spindle speeds or rigidity to maximize the capabilities of carbide end mills.

Do I have carbide end kills and insert tooling for my Mini-Mill & Mini-Lathe? Yes; but I use tgem cautiously for tougher materials. With the exception of face mills (with “Aluminum” inserts), I find that quality HSS/Cobalt tooling works well on Aluminum, 12L14 and 1144.

Just as carbide inserts need to be matched to materials, so do coated/uncoated HSS tools (and HSS insets).

 

[mmcmdl]

No one uses HSS end mills these days . I own a foster home for them when you get rid of them .


99% of jobs can be done with HSS which are fine and less expensive than Carbide . Carbide is prone to chipping even on a fairly rigid machine .

 

[machPete99]

I generally use carbide when I can. That said I do have a box of HHS cutters I picked up in a yard sale for $30 or so, and it includes some oddball sizes that do come in handy sometimes.

 

[projectnut]

Of roughly 1,000 end mills in stock about 10% are carbide. The rest are HSS. Radiused corner end mills are also known as "bull nose". Be careful if you shop on eBay. Many sellers don't know the difference between bull nose and ball end mills.

 

[homebrewed]

Owner of a benchtop mini-mill here. I almost exclusively use HSS. The only times I have used carbide were for the occasional situation where the material is clearly defeating/destroying my HSS end mill. And when I do use carbide it seems like it's a job that needs a relatively small end mill so I'm very cautious in terms of the feed rate, given the fact that my max RPMs are around 2500 RPMs and carbide is very brittle. The slow feed rate makes even simple jobs take forever. Using this approach I haven't broken any carbide end mills (yet).

A power feed would make this kind of operation easier, but I don't think I would need it very often. There are other things I'd spend money on first.

 

[woodchucker]

Owner of a benchtop mini-mill here. I almost exclusively use HSS. The only times I have used carbide were for the occasional situation where the material is clearly defeating/destroying my HSS end mill. And when I do use carbide it seems like it's a job that needs a relatively small end mill so I'm very cautious in terms of the feed rate, given the fact that my max RPMs are around 2500 RPMs and carbide is very brittle. The slow feed rate makes even simple jobs take forever. Using this approach I haven't broken any carbide end mills (yet).

A power feed would make this kind of operation easier, but I don't think I would need it very often. There are other things I'd spend money on first.

a power feed has improved my work much more than I thought. I get consistent cuts. Who woulda thunk it.

 

[GeneT45]

a power feed has improved my work much more than I thought. I get consistent cuts. Who woulda thunk it.

They're a mixed bag. Mine ("Align" brand) is great for running those long, slow-ish, passes, but its lowest speed is insufficiently slow for 1/8" or smaller endmills, so not much help there.

GsT

 

[ChazzC]

They're a mixed bag. Mine ("Align" brand) is great for running those long, slow-ish, passes, but its lowest speed is insufficiently slow for 1/8" or smaller endmills, so not much help there.

GsT

While I do use my power feed (LMS for a Mini-Mill) for making longer cuts, it's best feature is moving the table quickly – it's boring cranking the hand wheel 120 times to move 6".

 

[woodchucker]

my X power feed can do a slow crawl. I can do a fine end mill better than by hand. and I agree, long moves are boring, but can lead to issues too.