End mills.. need help.

6530 said:
Which Enco set would you recommend? I can't find anything in their catalog with a bull nose other than lathe tooling.

Thanks!
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Something like #321-0001 would work, but in reality, just having a nice 1/4" or 3/8" and 5/8" in both 2 and 4 flutes would be a fine start unless you need to cut smaller for an upcoming project. The Hertel cutters Enco carries are nice and not overly expensive. I don't own any ball-cutters and can't comment on owning one. I also don't care if they are coated as I haven't noticed any difference, but then I'm just a hobbyist.

Enco has sales all the time, so hold out when you don't need something right away and watch for them.

-Ryan
 
I don't have a lot of milling experience, but I have found that I love roughing end mills. You can take off a lot of material very quickly, then finish with the appropriate 2 or 4 flute. They seem to work especially well for side milling pockets as they make and spit out lots of small chips instead of clogging up with the long fine slivers you get with a finishing end mill. Grizzly sells a neat looking set (1/4 to 1in I think) for around $50, which isn't a whole lot of money. I'd buy those over round nose end mills, which seem more specific to creating radii at the bottom of pockets (or an exaggerated "milled" finished on CNC'd parts).

Also, don't overlook the various bundles of used/ new end mills that you find on eBay. I have just over $60 in my 50 or so end mills from 3/64 to 1/2in and have a huge variety of flute no./ length/ diameter to choose from.
 
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