Who makes the best end mills?

[CNCadmin]

Who makes the best solid carbide 4 flute end mills? Please provide a name and a link.

[JRoque]

OSG is good. These guys sell them but make sure you insist on OSG brand. Stick with American made if you can. No offense to our worldwide friends.

JR

[sendkeys]

china makes the best endmills hehe sorry had to say it im to cheap to know who makes the best anything but.. told http://www.micro100.com/ makes some of the best little bits.

[WayneHill]

We use SGS Z-Carb endmills at work. They rough out material like butter.

http://www.carbidedepot.com/bot-zcarb.asp

[psychomill]

SGS Z-carbs are bit**in'

Others worth noting are
Dataflute (In particular the proven 3 flute SS series and the new SSDH double helix)

Hanita Varimill and other series


And recently I've been playing around with Benchmark variable Helix tools. Can't find a link right now though. Having good results with them too.

[DAB_Design]

For uncoated carbide, we use Bassett. Not sure of a link though. They come in square yellow tubes, with a picture of a bassett hound on them. Quick google search didn't find a web site. But did find a reference to Kennemetal being their parent company.

[DareBee]

Ultratool tialn coated will cut almost anything at great speeds. http://www.ultra-tool.com/
If you want to do high-end hardmilling you cant beat Mitsubishi

[Rekd]

Depends on your application, Paul.

Hanita makes some incredible EM's for most metals. I ran one for almost 3 months solid in alum, (3/4" rougher, 3 fl), running at 175 IPM, half a dia deep. Hauls ass thru material, and I filled up nearly 6 bins that measure about 4' x 5' x 8' long (yes, that's in FEET) full of compact chips with one endmill, and it STILL wanted to cut more. Truly incredible tools.

I've used a lot of EM's in my 20+ year career, and none came close to Hanita Varimills.

[BigDaddyG]

All,
I just asked my super in the machine shop! Get this, they have found it cheaper and easier to buy the cheap Enco mills, use them till they go dull, throw them away and buy new ones. Plus he passes out the "Nice wood Box" to the guys that work for him.
Go Figure!
Regards,
Glen

[Rekd]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyG All, I just asked my super in the machine shop! Get this, they have found it cheaper and easier to buy the cheap Enco mills, use them till they go dull, throw them away and buy new ones. Plus he passes out the "Nice wood Box" to the guys that work for him. Go Figure! Regards, Glen

Buying a cheap EM for 1/2 the price of a good one, that lasts 1/10th the time doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

[steveg]

Originally Posted by JRoque OSG is good. These guys sell them but make sure you insist on OSG brand. Stick with American made if you can. No offense to our worldwide friends. JR

Ah OSG is a japanese company, much of the worlds
source of carbide powder comes fron china.

Yes osg makes wonderful endmills, taps and drills
they are the choice of many high volume shops and manufactures.

[miljnor]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyG All, I just asked my super in the machine shop! Get this, they have found it cheaper and easier to buy the cheap Enco mills, use them till they go dull, throw them away and buy new ones. Plus he passes out the "Nice wood Box" to the guys that work for him. Go Figure! Regards, Glen Buying a cheap EM for 1/2 the price of a good one, that lasts 1/10th the time doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

Ya my very last boss before I opened my own shop bought the cheap stuff (I didn't see a carbide end mill the hole time i worked there!) but an american made HSS end mill will blow away most import Carbide end mills and our carbide end mills are sweet!

when using cheep you have to change tools alot and setup takes time not to mention if the tool gives up the ghost alot you get more scrap parts!

I use carbide and almost everything and you can get almost any USA carbide to perform well in aluminum. If your machining other materials well its what your used to.
I spin 1/2" Fullerton TaiLN coated carbide to 670 sfm at .002 per flute all day and you can time when they will go bad to within a couple of minutes cut time, so that is what I use.. But there are WAY better brands out there But they cost $$$. Hanitas are awsome but you pay for them and I am unwilling to pay that learning curve to use another brand.

So I stick with fullerton its cheap and you can buy it on http://www.discount-tools.com/ for nothing.

Micahel t.