# 8520 owners: Face Mills and Carbide E/M's?



## Splat (Jul 5, 2014)

Anybody using a face mill with their 8520/B12 mills? What type (45º,90º,etc), # of inserts, etc. do you have?

Also, are you using Carbide and in what way (e/m, roughing e/m, etc)?


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## 34_40 (Jul 13, 2014)

I was hoping someone would reply as I'm curious to hear what others are using...


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## Splat (Jul 13, 2014)

Well, from what I've researched so far it appears a face mill with the inserts presented at a 45º angle would be better suited for our machine. Less h/p and rigidity needed than the 90º face mills but you won't cut into a 90º corner. If I do eventually get one it'll be a 2.5" or 2" with the 45º inserts. I've been using my fly cutter and so far, so good, but the sound it makes when it meets the work always makes me grimace. I assume the same would be with the face mill anyway. Shars has a nice 2" 45º face mill *here*. You get 4 sides to use with those SDMT inserts, which is cost efficient.


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## chuckorlando (Jul 13, 2014)

I have struggled over face mill or fly cutter my self. I have no experience with a FC so I cant compare and thus my hesitation. I love the FM at school. You clip .05 DOC and it more or less sounds like dunka,dunka,dunka,dunka,dunka,dunka. They leave such a nice finish and do it fast. But the FC are so damn cheap


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## countryguy (Jul 13, 2014)

I am keenly interested as well!    I'm wondering what the difference is between a facemill w/ inserts and an Indexable end Mill would be?   Are they not essentially the same thing?    I keep looking to move out of these expensive Carbide End Mills and into something indexable if they perform.   Love to hear some stories here.   I have read that certain Mfrs' and their quality of insert and tool play a pretty big part.   Dunno? 

I keep looking at these Hitachi & Dorian's   but there are simply so so many out there.  
Hitachi - http://www.hitachimetals.com/product/cuttingtools/indexable.html      They even have a 3 & 4 &  5 flute line in .375 to .75 for their small diameter ultra high efficiency      And Dorian's line:  *http://tinyurl.com/kkxwsoe

*


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## richl (Jul 14, 2014)

Definitely interested in this topic, i have been considering  indexable fm and em for my machine. The south. Bend vertical mill weighs in the 1800 lbs range, but only 1hp,  so you have to be careful with doc and speed. I figure the 8520/8525 class machines would be a similar base to compare with. I'll be watching.
Rich


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## Terrywerm (Jul 15, 2014)

Thus far I have not tried a face mill on my 8520, but have given it some thought, just haven't pulled the trigger yet. I would think that the 2" size would be appropriate for these machines, much like for the mill/drill owners out there that have used face mills. I would tend to shy away from anything larger, especially if purchasing a 90* face mill.


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## Splat (Mar 13, 2019)

I'm necroposting my own thread. I haven't got a face mill yet for my small mill. I'm eyeballing *this* 2" face cutter using 45º SEAN-42 AFTN inserts on Ebay. Is it possible to use only 1 insert in a 4-insert face cutter or would it be unbalanced?


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## 34_40 (Apr 25, 2019)

That's okay, I haven't gone any further either! 
I guess one of us will have to bite the bullet and spring for the tooling so we can come back and report! LOL.


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## Rootpass (Apr 25, 2019)

3/8” end mill in steel seems to be all my machine will handle. I’ve had ok results with a flycutter (on steel). 
I bought a 3/4” two insert endmill and never got a good finish with it. I was using Sandvik inserts. 
Take all of this with a grain of salt because it could all be due to operator inexperience.


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## wa5cab (Apr 26, 2019)

Splat said:


> I'm necroposting my own thread. I haven't got a face mill yet for my small mill. I'm eyeballing *this* 2" face cutter using 45º SEAN-42 AFTN inserts on Ebay. Is it possible to use only 1 insert in a 4-insert face cutter or would it be unbalanced?



Short answers are "Yes" and "Yes".  That would be equivalent to a fly cutter.  To get approximately the same surface finish you would have to reduce the feed rate by a factor of four


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