Carbide End Mill Sets

Archive for the ‘Types of Tools’ Category

Milling cutters are cutting tools used in milling machined and are generally attached vertically. They are used to remove material by their movement inside the machine because they have two or more helix flutes. The names of milling cutters generally describe how the cutters perform. Milling cutters can be configured in several ways including a solid construction, holder, or inserts construction. Their tip or end geometries can also be of several different designs including square end, ball nose, and radius tip, or chamfer end. In addition, milling cutters can also have a finishing type such as roughing or hogging, or finishing.

Those that cut with their ends and on their sides are called end mills, whereas milling cutters that cut with their ends only are referred to as face mills. The creation of a flat face on the work piece, thus the term face mills. Face mills generally have larger diameters than the width of the workpiece, which is being faced. This means that the surface of the workpiece can be processed in a single pass. The largest types of face or end mills are shell mills. These mount onto an arbor, instead of having an integral shank.

Slab mills cut with their peripheral edges and generally have helical cutting edges. Slab mills are normally mounted horizontally to create plane finishes on the workpiece. Plunge mills are designed for plunging the cutter directly into the material being milled, whereas single angle cutters have one side angled in order to produce a chamfer or angle on the edge of the workpiece. Single angle cutters are angled on one side to produce an angle or chamfer on the workpiece edge.

The dovetail is specially designed tools used for cutting a dovetail groove into a workpiece. A dovetail is a fan-shaped tenon, which forms a tight interlocking joint when fitted into a matching mortise.

Keyseat cutters are used to produce a slot that acts as a seat for a corresponding engagement key. Keyseat cutters are used to key shafts to prevent unwanted rotation and provide positive engagement. The side cutting edges of the T-slot cutters feed into the workpiece to produce a “T” slot.

To create a convex feature or a male semicircle on a workpiece concave formed cutters are used, on the other hand, in order to create a concave feature or a female semicircle, convex formed cutters will be used.

To cut tooth forms on gears, machinists use gear hob milling cutters and to produce teeth of an involted form gear hobs and cutters are ground.

Button or copy cutters use round inserts known as “buttons” instead of square or triangular inserts. The round inserts permit enhanced feed rates and depth of cuts using lower power.

End mill cutters can be distinguished from ordinary drill bits, by their application, geometry, and how they are manufactured. In fact, end mill was once a slang term used by machinist’s that has come to be standard usage by industry publications, trade magazines, and manufacturer’s catalogs.

There is a wide category of end and face milling tools available, including flat bottom, ball nose, radius, inverted radius, and chamfer tools. In addition, each of these categories can be further divided by specific application and special geometry.

More and more traditional solid end mills are being replaced with better cost-effective inserted cutting tools. These end mill tools are initially more expensive. However, inserted cutting tools do reduce tool-change times and permit for a much simpler replacement of worn or broken cutting edges instead of having to replace the entire tool.

Both metric and imperial shank and cutting diameters are sold in the United States and in Canada. However, in the United States, metric end mills are not commonly used in every machine shop where as in Europe and Asia they are the standard.

End mills are used several different types of milling applications including profile milling, tracer milling, face milling, etc. The tool that is used will depend on the material, which is being milled, as well as the particular task that has to be performed.

End mills have flutes, which are spiral cutting edge on the end mill. End mills can have between 2 to 8 flutes, with most end mills having 2 and 4 flutes. End mills that have 2 flutes allow for the maximum amount of space for chip ejection and are used for general milling procedures. End mills with 3 flutes are perfect for slotting as well as general milling. End mills with 4 to 8 flutes reduce chip load and provide for a better surface finish.