Smallish face mill

matthewsx

matthewsx

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I wouldn't take the risk with the Amazon unit you post, and the one on eBay is a very old style and you might find it difficult to source inserts that fit it.

I have several face mills from Haas and I'm very happy with them (no affiliation). They are excellent quality. More information is here. And here. And below is the link to the Haas web page for their various face mills.

SHELL MILL BODIES - HAAS TOOLING

Explore high-quality Shell Mill Bodies for precision machining. Our range includes durable and efficient milling solutions for various applications. Find the perfect Shell Mill Body for your machining needs.
www.haascnc.com www.haascnc.com
 
davidpbest said:
I wouldn't take the risk with the Amazon unit you post, and the one on eBay is a very old style and you might find it difficult to source inserts that fit it.

I have several face mills from Haas and I'm very happy with them (no affiliation). They are excellent quality. More information is here. And here. And below is the link to the Haas web page for their various face mills.

SHELL MILL BODIES - HAAS TOOLING

Explore high-quality Shell Mill Bodies for precision machining. Our range includes durable and efficient milling solutions for various applications. Find the perfect Shell Mill Body for your machining needs.
www.haascnc.com www.haascnc.com
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Excellent.

Their smallest one is right in my price range too. This is for my Hardinge BB4 so 2” should be great.

Thanks,

John
 
I have one like the Amazon listing. It will remove material, but I can't get a good surface finish with it. I don't think all the carbide insert pockets are machined the same and one or two inserts are lower than the others.
 
NCjeeper said:
I have one like the Amazon listing. It will remove material, but I can't get a good surface finish with it. I don't think all the carbide insert pockets are machined the same and one or two inserts are lower than the others.
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This is typical of the cheap indexable tool on Amazon - and sometimes from Shars. Have a look at this:
 
matthewsx said:
Excellent.

Their smallest one is right in my price range too. This is for my Hardinge BB4 so 2” should be great.

Thanks,

John
Click to expand...
Pay attention to the insert shape/style. I have Haas versions that take the HOP and HPRN types, but they have different applications. Here's another post by Mark that might be helpful:

www.hobby-machinist.com

Help me pick out a face mill

New Mill owner.. I would like to purchase a general purpose face mill. I have a 2HP (PM833TV) mill with an R8 spindle.... A little overwhelmed with the amount of chinese garbage and types of cutters. I want something "good quality" - Meaning, something I'll be happy with for a very long time...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com
 
I have a Shars face mill that does remove material but I'm not delighted with it. I have had good luck with the one I bought from Glacern, using Iscar inserts. I can't say how it compares to the Haas, but it makes the Shars one look like junk.
 
Okay, now you have me confused.

More research ahead, my shop is definitely on the lower budget side but I hate to waste money on stuff that won't do the job needed. Just not sure what the job will be and can't afford to tool up 4 different facemills for this little horizontal.

I'm tempted to try and figure out a good general purpose insert that will do okay on steel and aluminum, then figure out where to go from there.

Reality is, the cheap stuff might work fine for what I have in mind.

John
 
Would this style of insert have enough grades to cover steel, aluminum and bronze?

Guess I really need to buy your book @davidpbest

JOhn
 
Decide if you need to cut to a 90° shoulder at depths up to 0.400". If you do, then the HRNP is the face mill is what you want. For that face mill, you will want an insert specific to aluminum (of you need to machine that material) and / or one for steel.

If instead you're looking for a face mill for fine surface finishing, and are willing to give up on cutting to a 90-degree shoulder, then I would recommend the HOP stye face mill which has a max depth of cut of 0.137" and leaves a 45° shoulder. For that face mill, you'll want the octagan style inserts - one specific to aluminum, and a different one for steel.

The same will be true of ANY face mill - you will want different inserts depending on what material you're machining.

Hope this helps.
 
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