How Long Should An End Mill Last?

As mentioned , some sort of lubricant/coolant REALLY helps tool life. I prefer to use a coolant mister, just so I'm not constantly farting with a brush. Many plans here on misters, I like the fog-less kind.

The other important factor is CHIP LOAD. If you run the RPM too high compared to feed, the chips are too thin and you're cutting the metal way more than needed causing rapid wear.. OTOH, too thick a chip will break the endmill. Study up on this concept. There are tables put out by tooling manufactures and also handy calculators for this.

Finally, if you want long tool life, buy quality cutters.

Karl
 
When I had my small bench mills like my LMS mini-mill and the PM25, the rougher end mills (some folks around here call them "corn cob" mills because of their appearance) were a god-send for me. I could take the same or heavier cuts without loading the endmill/machine anywhere near as bad. I got to where I was using them for all my 'roughing' needs, then following up with a regular end mill. Good quality roughers are a bit pricier than those cheap TIN imports, but will last a long time with proper care. And use lube for them as well. :)
 
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