End Mills

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Garryzgarage

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Milling machine End Mills

I need some help, just getting started and want to buy some end mills, can someone explain to me the different types of end mills and type of work they are mainly used for, My Grand Dad always tolled me the only stupid question is the one not asked, and when your starting out it seems their are a bunch of those types of questions, Garry ,I have a Zay 7032 bench mill that I picked up used and we're fixing it up, I have been looking at feeds, in the pics I have seen what looks like roller bearings, when the wheels were broken the shaft is 5/8", would this be a Bridgeport size, or how do you tell what kind of feed will work, that's enough fir now, would be thankful for anyone's help??? Garry
 
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Re: Mill Ends

For general use a set of endmills from Harbor Freight would work fine. http://www.harborfreight.com/20-piece-titanium-nitrade-coated-end-mill-set-5947.html#.UxQ_XuNdV8E I usually buy these when I get the 20% off anything coupon. They are pretty decent endmills and a lot cheaper than the good ones. I use them for general work.

As far as types go, there are entire books on the subject. Take a look at the Enco catalog, in each section they give a pretty good description of the use for the different types. www.Use-enco.com

You should be able to buy parts for that machine, those are sold under a number of different brand names.

Have fun with your new mill.
 
As a quick reference,2 flute end mills are for aluminum because you can take larger cuts,and need the larger flutes to clear chips better.

A problem with Chinese end mills is sometimes they are sharp and sometimes not quite sharp. I used them a lot at work due to museum budget. I can sharpen them at home,though,with my tool and cutter grinder.

Generally, I have found Chinese HSS to be harder and more brittle than USA made cutters. The TIN coated ones you buy sets of are coated so thinly you can see through the coating,just about. Might as well leave it off. Not bad cutters for non production use though. Don't be discouraged by what I said. They will mill some metals that less hard HSS will not cut,I have been told by a commercial shop,which makes sense since they do seem harder. But,be careful of their extra brittleness,too.

The worst problem for the home shop guy is probably their lack of quality control on how sharp they are(or aren't),if you have no means of touching them up. A little careful hand stoning can perk them up,but you'd better know how to leave relief or you can ruin them: The cutting edge MUST stick out further than the rest of the cutter,if that makes sense.
 
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My recommendation at least for now is to stick with HSS or Cobalt Steel cutters. Carbide is great for production where you can tune conditions in perfectly for the parts you are making, but for hobby use and one of parts, they are way too easy to break. Since they cost so much more than HSS, it can be very painful to the wallet and pride to see them snap off or chip the edge on an interrupted cut. HSS runs half or less as fast, but it seems to take more abuse, and if you do break one, it's a much cheaper mistake. Once you get a bit more experience, then you can mess with Carbide cutters. Also, study up and pay attention to feeds and speeds. There are free calculators online to help with this, and plenty of information on feed per tooth depending on tool material, work material and cutter size. This will save you quite a bit of frustration and ruined end mills. Beyond material choice, most of it is just a shape question. Use flat end mills for general purpose, ball if you need an inside radius, corner rounding for outside radius. There are other shapes, flat with a small radius, angle mills from 1 degree to 90 in various steps.</SPAN>
 
I no longer buy off shore (Brand X) end mills after getting nicked a couple of times, from here on I will stick to a known name, Weldon Hertel OSG Putnam etc.
 
For general home purpose use, I would get some decent brand name 2 flute end mills. With those, you can either side cut on steel, or you can plunge cut. If you want to get 4 flute, make sure you get center cut end mills, so you can still plunge some things. I've been a Tool & Die Maker for 30 + years, and the majority of the time, I use 2 flute end mills.
 
I've been quite happy with the osg hypro hss enco sells. They seem every bit as good as the niagra cutters I have. Get them when they are on sale and a double coupon (20%/ free ship) comes along and they're practically as cheap as those import sets and loads more consistent.
 
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