Strategy for cleaning up 304 block.

[scrapper400]

Hi all,
I normally work in Aluminium but have a job to do on 304 stainless. It is a 12mm thick section of round bar that I want to dress into a square so I have about 7mm DOC to take off four sides. I could just saw it first and then take a finishing cut but it's messier and I want to get the confidence of machining 304.
My plan is to face off each section. I read that in facing you should perferably use 3/4 of the tool so I'm going to use a 16mm carbide EM and the tool data says I can cut up to 0.5D but I would be happy to take a 6.5mm DOC followed by a 0.5mm finishing cut.
I am in no rush and so would be more concerned about wearing the tool. Do people believe this is the best way to approach this?
My other option is to side mill (6mm wide cuts) in two passes then take a finishing cut but as I said I'm keen to learn what the optimum solution is so that I can eventually build up the confidence to machine lots of jobs in 304 without holding my breath each time. So in essence I'm looking for a sensible trade off between low wear and a decent removal rate.
My plan would be to rough at 900rpm and at 120mm/min (Fz - .0336). (apols to those who work in imperial).
What do people think? Is a 6.5mm depth of cut acceptable? Is there a rule of thumb for the lead-in speed to prevent a shockload fracturing the tool?

Glad of any tips or suggestions? One of the reasons I ask is that I was running an aluminium ripper recently and I put it running at the manufacturers spec. It went fine till I machined a curve and it snapped. When I read up on machining corners I found out I should have applied a factor to my calcs. I would like to avoid a similar occurance.

TIA.

Scrap.