How many flutes?

[68rustang]

The title is a pretty basic and open ended question on purpose. I have searched and come up empty, both here and using Google. I think "flute" is just too general of a term on a Machinist's forum. If I missed the obvious I apologize ahead of time.

Basically, I am new to CNC milling and would like to learn more about what determines how many flutes the endmill I am using should have? I ASSume the more flutes there are means faster material removal with a trade off of chip removal.

Is there a basic starting point that says, "For material X, speed Y, and feed Z cutter V should be used"?

[dertsap]

Originally Posted by 68rustang The title is a pretty basic and open ended question on purpose. I have searched and come up empty, both here and using Google. I think "flute" is just too general of a term on a Machinist's forum. If I missed the obvious I apologize ahead of time. Basically, I am new to CNC milling and would like to learn more about what determines how many flutes the endmill I am using should have? I ASSume the more flutes there are means faster material removal with a trade off of chip removal. Is there a basic starting point that says, "For material X, speed Y, and feed Z cutter V should be used"?

there are far too many factors in determining which tools to use for an application ,generally the lesser the flute the better chip removal you will get ,though you sacrifice speed (# teeth) and normally rigitity of the tool ,the more flutes you have the beefier the tool is
i would suggest doing some google searches for general machining (forget cnc) and learn the basics from the ground up ,tooling , speeds and feeds , cutting properties of materials etc

[sluggo]

there is a bunch of good general endmill data st this site
http://www.hanita.com/hanita_protect...o_contents.htm

[kalmah]

Originally Posted by 68rustang The title is a pretty basic and open ended question on purpose. I have searched and come up empty, both here and using Google. I think "flute" is just too general of a term on a Machinist's forum. If I missed the obvious I apologize ahead of time. Basically, I am new to CNC milling and would like to learn more about what determines how many flutes the endmill I am using should have? I ASSume the more flutes there are means faster material removal with a trade off of chip removal. Is there a basic starting point that says, "For material X, speed Y, and feed Z cutter V should be used"?

General rules:
- THe more the mill diameter is, the more you need flute.

- For roughing of soft materials such aluminium, plastics, use a mill with 1 or 2 flute. The most important isn't the strength of flute, but a good chip evacuation.

- For roughing of medium/hard materials such steel, stainless steel, titanium, use a mill with 3-4 flute. The most important is the strength of flute.

- For finishing end mill (when shouldering), use high number of flute.

COncerning the speed, feed, you find everything in the pdf brochure of cutting tool manufacturer:

http://www.mitsubishicarbide.com/
http://www.fraisa.com/
http://www.jabro-tools.com/
http://www.niagaracutter.com/solidca...speedfeed.html

[cdlenterprises]

Personally, I've always been a fan of using three flute em's, especially for roughing. They give you the chip evacuation of a two flute with the rigidity and surface finish of a four flute. They also give less surface contact so they are less likely to chatter in the corners and yield more balanced cutting forces. In high performance applications(high speed, through spindle coolant, super rigid fixturing, etc...) I've heard that 5 flutes work well also but I've never had much luck with them. General rule of thumb - soft material 2 or 3 flute hard material 3 or 4 flute.