Which Endmills?!

[firestorm1284]

Hello All, I have been looking all over the place trying to figure out which tooling to buy for my x3. It seems the general opinion on this site is to buy fewer quantity of the better quality endmills.

The question is, which brand to go with? I plan on cutting mostly aluminum. Is there a decent "set" out there thats not terribly expensive? I am looking for recommendations on regular endmills, ballnose, also flycutters and any other recommendations anyone has on things a person just starting out should have.

[HimyKabibble]

Originally Posted by firestorm1284 Hello All, I have been looking all over the place trying to figure out which tooling to buy for my x3. It seems the general opinion on this site is to buy fewer quantity of the better quality endmills. The question is, which brand to go with? I plan on cutting mostly aluminum. Is there a decent "set" out there thats not terribly expensive? I am looking for recommendations on regular endmills, ballnose, also flycutters and any other recommendations anyone has on things a person just starting out should have.

I'd recommend going to either Enco or MSC, and getting some Putnam or Greenfield 2-flutes. They are consistently very good quality, and very reasonably priced (typically under $20 for a 1/2"). Get whatever is on sale - uncoated or coated - won't make much difference. Get a couple each of a few sizes, maybe 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, and play with them and see which sizes you find most useful for your kind of work. Everyone's requirements will be different. Stay away from the sets, unless you're really justy learning and likely to break or otherwise ruin them. The Chinese endmills, which is what ALL the sets seem to be, are, far more often than not, crap, and will make everything you try to do more difficult.

Regards,
Ray L.

[firestorm1284]

Sounds like good advice, thanks ray! Does the same thing apply to fly cutters, or are the cheap ones ok?

[HimyKabibble]

Originally Posted by firestorm1284 Sounds like good advice, thanks ray! Does the same thing apply to fly cutters, or are the cheap ones ok?

The cheap ones I bought were almost unusable. I made my own 4" flycutter out of scrap that works great (on a knee mill, not an X3). It's a quick and easy project, uses a 1/4" HSS lathe tool.

Regards,
Ray L.

[hoss2006]

Originally Posted by firestorm1284 Hello All, I have been looking all over the place trying to figure out which tooling to buy for my x3. It seems the general opinion on this site is to buy fewer quantity of the better quality endmills. The question is, which brand to go with? I plan on cutting mostly aluminum. Is there a decent "set" out there thats not terribly expensive? I am looking for recommendations on regular endmills, ballnose, also flycutters and any other recommendations anyone has on things a person just starting out should have.

For aluminum you'll want to get high helix 2 or 3 flute endmills (45 degree), they cost about the same but they are designed for aluminum to pull the chips out better and leave you with a better finish.
2 flute is generally for roughing and 3 flute for finishing.
Hoss

[project5k]

I actually got a set when i ordered my mill from grizz, and while yes, i'm sure that there pretty cheap, i got a really good deal on them by getting them with the mill, and i've used them quite a bit. Infact they've come in pretty handy from time to time... the set i got was 10 sizes and a 2 flute and a 4 flute of each size. If memory serves, the deal i got was $20 for the set with the mill. I've already gotten more than $20 worth of use out of them, so i'm pretty happy.. They were cheap, and that was good, cause i could use them, and if i broke them, i wasnt too upset, so i could play and learn and stuff.. I still have every one, and they are all still very usable. and considering that it was my very first mill, and i didnt know anything about milling, i felt it was a great starter set for the $$.

[firestorm1284]

Thanks everyone for the great info! i think I am going to order some Putnam helical 2 and 3 flute endmills in a couple of different sizes. I think I might also order a set of endmills anyway, knowing full well they might be crap, but I have almost no experience milling, so I'll practice with those. When I'm ready to make the finished parts I'll use the good stuff!

[project5k]

yea, that sounds like a good plan, learn and break the cheap ones, and then use the good ones for your real parts..

one thing that i will say, when you change from your cheap ones to the better ones, you may need to adjust your feed speeds, different cutter constructions and coatings can effect your cut speeds, or at least thats my understanding at this time.