Cheap Chinese face mill?

[Hukshawn]

Those are grind marks. The inserts were likely for steel. I touched the inserts to the wheel to take the radius off cause I was testing on aluminum and it wouldn't cut.
I took all the inserts out and put a DTI on the bottom face. The cutter body was out 010 on the bottom. But the spindle ran true. So the whole thing was out of wack.
I got rid of this cutter anyways. I have another one coming in the mail. Try again...

 

[petertha]

I just measured my face mill. I clamped a 123 block in the vise, locked the head & lowered the quill so insert just contacted block with same resistance. Then rotate next insert position to exact same mark on block & recorded Z deviation, I have an accurate DRO on the quill. I get 0.0000, -0.0002, 0.0000, -0.0003". Given that the inserts are used & 'offshore goldies', I think it safe to assume these heads are designed to be at exact same DOC? I can provide some pics of head but hopefully this gives the relevant info. Just eyeballing - the clearance gap from bottom face of tool when the inserts are in contact, guessing ~.030-.040".

 

[Hukshawn]

So, I bought another cheap Chinese 4 flute face mill. This time I bought it with a matching R8 arbor.

I have yet to try it for a large facing cut, I tried it on a shoulder I was cutting. It's loud! But I suppose it's an interupted cut.

How loud are facemills generally?
Also, it comes with APMT inserts, says they're for metal. They're cheap too.... Any recommendations on decent ones and ones that are suitable for aluminum?

 

[T Bredehoft]

I was taught that face mills should have at least two inserts cutting at one time, otherwise the loading and unloading would make problems for the machine.

 

[Hukshawn]

Makes sense.

 

[4GSR]

In general, face mills can be loud. An fully ground insert will lesson the noise over one that is preformed un-ground. The style of the insert can have bearing on noise or "beating to death" the mill. It also depends on the rigidity of the mill also. Light duty light weight will be very noisy and loud regardless what you do. A big chunky old iron mill, it'll sound like sweet music to the ears.

 

[Hukshawn]

Can you recommend some inserts you like? I'm really unfamiliar with them.

 

[4GSR]

Off hand, no.

It's almost a hit and miss deal getting ones that will cut perfectly.

I don't have one of these style face mills in my shop. I've used them at other places I've worked at and never got one to be quite on a Bridgport type of mill. Bigger CNC mills, no problem.
I'm using old school triangle TPG insert tooling on my old Index mill. Depending how hard the material, the noise level varies. I don't know of a quite one out there without going to a high shear type of face mill. And it don't quieten it that much either.

Ken

 

[Hukshawn]

I wasn't speaking specifically of quiet, but just something that fits well.

However, I say all this but after the big fly cutter I made last night, I really don't know how much I'll use the face mill. I'm quite impressed with the fly cutter. And with the cobalt tool in it, it should cut almost anything I'll ever need it for.

 

[petertha]

Some pics
- my face mill for reference in case the geometry looks different to yours.
- insert depth test I did. If there is depth setting difference by design, it sure must be teeny.
- uncoated + low nose radius insert for aluminum just sails through that material & leave a very nice finish. I have no use for a fly cutter anymore.

I considered getting a bigger diameter tool but... its an RF-45 mill set up about as accurate as I can get. Taking ~1.5" swaths of material is a nice compromise of machine power, finish & getting the work done. A larger head means more inserts & probably more sensitive to any table/spindle inaccuracy & machine rigidity. Just a personal opinion. Thus far I have not tried milling on the edge of this particular insert but I cant help but think its probably not ideal for that. I generally use end mills for that.