End Mill For Stainless Steel ?

[Plas62]

I am going to be manually milling some 1/16" wide, rounded bottom slots .020 to .040 deep in CPM154 stainless. I know I need a ball end end mill and I believe it should be center cutting. Should I be looking at HSS, Cobalt or Carbide? Should the end mill be 2,3 or 4 flute?

 

[Karl_T]

I'd buy this one:

BESTCARB TIAIN COAT 1/16"-2 FL UNIV APPL BALLNOSE30deg HELX STUB LGH ENDMILL"NEW
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BESTCARB-TI...572?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c40d825d4

 

[dracozny]

Depends on a few things, but overall I prefer Cobalt with a TiAlN coating. 4 flutes are nice for steel usually. Although sometimes 2 flutes are better especially when slotting because the end mill will not climb cut nearly as bad as a 4 flute. Check Zoro tools, sometimes you get some nice deals especially on other shapes like ball nose end mills.

 

[Plas62]

Thanks for the advise