Smallest diameter endmills

[gcz]

i can find 1/32 with 1/8 flute length...that seems to be 'long' for that diameter.
1/16 i have are about .3 long (just measured)
until now i had been able to find mixed sets on ebay for as little as 10$ for 25 (drills and mills - microsize) but those seem to have long vanished...now i'm just getting my head around the idea i have to pay 3 or 4$ or more for a cutter...good thing i had the cheap ones to learn with.
finding cutters is no problem - finding cutters that one can afford IS a problem i'm trying to solve without a lot of success - i've looked hard!
i'm sooo not done learning how not to break em!

[Ken_Shea]

Here is a Canadian link

http://www.carbide.ca/prod.html?id=9

Here is A USA i think 1/16 X.250
http://www.gravers.com/s08cut7.html

[strat]

those micro bits i was talking i got from grizzly or harbor freight been awhile its a set of like 25 bits and was like real cheap some of the bits i have had no use for ....yet ...but they are there if i ever need em so muti bit types micro sized (.0xx)

[strat]

those micro bits i was talking i got from grizzly or harbor freight been awhile its a set of like 25 bits and was like real cheap some of the bits i have had no use for ....yet ...but they are there if i ever need em so muti bit types micro sized http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44924
like $5 for 20 or they have a 50 for $12.99

[gcz]

yeah buddy!
watch me click for a ton of those suckers right now!
even if i use but 3 bits of a set, i'm doing great!
thanks a ton for sharing that link!

done- got 10 sets of 50 comin!
thanks again strat!

[2muchstuff]

The smallest ones that I've ever seen have been dental burrs. The ones that the dentist uses to drill into your teeth with.

There are two types, diamond and carbide. Use the carbide ones, they look like miniture mill bits and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They have a 1/16" shank on them. Due to their small size your feed rates won't be the fastest. I have used them before in all types of material (wood, plastic, metal and glass).

Google up "dental burrs" and you should come up with something. I have seen them for less than $1 each. Ask your dentist to save some of his old ones for you so you can try them out.

[Sanghera]

Great link. So if I wanted to cut 1/4" deep or maybe a little more, since the flute is 1/4" is there a straight piece of carbide right after the flute at the same diameter before it tapers into the shank diameter?
Thanks.

[cincron]

I use Micro100 Endmills on our Citizens... Small tools are Micro100's nitch...

http://www.micro100.com/cgi-bin/Inch.cgi/?Prefix=GEM

For a very small endmill I usually would make small, light cuts....

3000-4000 RPM depending on the SFM it recomends, and 1-2IPM. My DOC would be somewhere in the range of .020-.080 depending on the material. You can obviously cut Mag/bronze and aluminum easier than you can cut stainless...

:-)

[Mcgyver]

Originally Posted by Sanghera Cool, where can you get a nice 1/16" bit? The flute is actually 1/4" ? Thanks.

try KBC, they have 1/16 end mills. they are in Canada, have a dcecent catalogue and do mail order