Manual Mill end mills

[Stylesidetruckguy]

I recently acquired a supermax ycm 1 1/2 for manual milling and draw a blank when trying to find good endmills worth investing my money into. I am new to working with vertical mills and would like some helpful advice. I fully understand that hss is more forgiving than carbide. Is there a general purpose end mill that can be used for low-mid carbon steels and/or 6061 aluminum? I am currently NOT set up for coolant though that would be optimal. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Bill D]

I have bought used carbide endmills from the bay. Expect the corners to be worn. They work well on those jobs where the cutter extends past the work and only the side is being used. Like reducing the width of a flat piece. They tend to be okay at the end if you do not need a sharp ninety degree corner.
Bill D

 

[EmGo]

Is there a general purpose end mill that can be used for low-mid carbon steels and/or 6061 aluminum?

Nope. Two flutes for aluminum, four flutes for steel. If you plan to plunge, there's center-cutting and non-center-cutting, to be aware of. You can tell by looking at the end, it's pretty obvious. For roughing in steels in a Bridgeport-type, I like the corncob ones, they take a lot less force and make more convenient chips and overall, work better. Uncoated works best on aluminum, some of the coatings are nice on steel but not necessary.

So you need several.

About coolant, get some wd-40 cans, that'll be fine. Or a few solder brushes and a little tin to pour sulfur oil into. Both work okay, wd better on aluminum and erl on steel. It'll smoke, who cares, god put us on earth to suffer.

 

[Stylesidetruckguy]

Nope. Two flutes for aluminum, four flutes for steel. If you plan to plunge, there's center-cutting and non-center-cutting, to be aware of. You can tell by looking at the end, it's pretty obvious. For roughing in steels in a Bridgeport-type, I like the corncob ones, they take a lot less force and make more convenient chips and overall, work better. Uncoated works best on aluminum, some of the coatings are nice on steel but not necessary.

So you need several.

About coolant, get some wd-40 cans, that'll be fine. Or a few solder brushes and a little tin to pour sulfur oil into. Both work okay, wd better on aluminum and erl on steel. It'll smoke, who cares, god put us on earth to suffer.

Yes, yes. I am also familiar with the fact that aluminum and steel need different flutes. I am willing to spend some money on good end mills. As of now, I have one good hss end mill to work with... What I am interested in is what type and brand I should go with if I am worried more about longevity and not stupid fast cnc speeds. Thank you for informing about center and non-center cutting. I will take that into account. As for coolant. I have give or take a few gallons of sulfur cutting oil I use for lathe work.

 

[GregSY]

You won't believe this, but (in general) more expensive, brand named end mills will outlast cheaper, Chinese end mills. Of course, how you use them will also play a large role in how long they last. If you're looking for a free lunch in all this, there isn't one.

 

[FamilyTradition]

Keep an eye out on Facebook Market, Craig's list, auctions, etc. I have found a good variety of endmills, drills, taps, etc, from shops that went out of business or guys that are retiring.

They will usually sell all their cutters as a lot for little money to expedite their clean out. They have spent the years collecting the variety so you don't have to. Of course then you will have to spend the time organizing and "separating the wheat from the chaff", so it depends on your free time vs how much money you have.

If you've got $100 bills burning a hole in your pocket, McMaster-Carr does sell sets of various styles and sizes that can also get you started.

 

[Stylesidetruckguy]

I am definitely not looking for a free lunch. There are a lot of different end mill companies to choose. I would like to know what is the go-to carbide or hss end mills for slow vertical mills. (i.e) Should I be looking for Kennametal Harvi's or a 6pc hss set for $16 on ebay?

 

[Stylesidetruckguy]

Keep an eye out on Facebook Market, Craig's list, auctions, etc. I have found a good variety of endmills, drills, taps, etc, from shops that went out of business or guys that are retiring.

They will usually sell all their cutters as a lot for little money to expedite their clean out. They have spent the years collecting the variety so you don't have to. Of course then you will have to spend the time organizing and "separating the wheat from the chaff", so it depends on your free time vs how much money you have.

If you've got $100 bills burning a hole in your pocket, McMaster-Carr does sell sets of various styles and sizes that can also get you started.

Ohh yes. Once a day on craigslist and time to time on proxibid has gotten me close. In my area, people like to spend (and sell) used machining products as if they were gold.

 

[Gearclash]

Keep an eye on the tooling and accessories For Sale section of this forum. Every now and then a grab bag of tooling comes for sale. I am pretty well set for my manual vertical mill after a few purchases from there. I would recommend both HSS and carbide end mills. Each has a place. Anymore I lean toward using carbide unless I suspect there may be some kind of chatter problem with the setup.

Tooling, Parts and Accessories For Sale or Wanted

 

[SeeFair]

I recommend lakeshore carbide. The pricing is good, they are American made, and their website is pretty simple. There's enough info on there to make sensible choices. They served me well when I was teaching robotics, and now as a hobbyist. I have never been disappointed with their products. I think you'll be happier with carbide compared to hss.

 

[Mtndew]

+1 for Lakeshore Carbide, especially if you're on a budget.
There is also latheinserts.com that sells end mills, but I've yet to buy from there so I can't speak for the quality.

 

[Stylesidetruckguy]

Thank you for the help. Lakeshore carbide looks great. The forum's "craigslist" looks promising after looking at the postings.

 

[Superbowl]

For hobby work I recommend a three prong approach.

1. Cheap Chinese set from Ebay, Get one with 10 end mills. Five two flute and five four flute ranging in size from 1/4" to 3/4". The quality is hit and miss but they will be fine for soft stuff. Good for AL and brass, fair for mild steel. Don't even try them on harder steel. This gives you a wide range of sizes at little cost.

2. Get a couple of AMERICAN MADE hhs end mills in the most common size--- 1/4" and 3/8" (EBAY new old stock)

3. Misc stuff-- Get a 1/2" corn cob cutter for roughing. Get AMERICAN MADE carbide end mills in most common sizes 1/4" and 3/8" for very hard metals. Get one 60 degree dove tail cutter in hhs. Get a couple of key seat cutters in common size 1/8" and 3/16".

This covers most jobs you will come across.

 

[gregormarwick]

Don't:

• Waste your time with HSS
• Buy used endmills from ebay
• Waste money on premium carbide endmills for a manual machine
• Use coated endmills for aluminium, especially without coolant

YG1 do a good range of HSS-E powder metal endmills that are decent quality and not expensive. HSS-E PM is a good compromise for manual machines, tougher than carbide, harder than HSS or HSS-Co, and usually comes with modern coatings so you can get the speed up remarkably close to carbide. Get some of those for steels and stainlesses etc.

Get a couple of uncoated 3fl carbides from wherever and keep them for the aluminium.

 

[???]

Regarding flute numbers I use 3 flute carbide cutters only, more clearance than a 4 flute and better feed than a 2 flute. I generally pre drill instead of plunging straight in with pockets etc, less rubbing on the sides. I agree on no coatings on cutters for aluminium without coolant. Air blast can be used to clear chips, watch where the chips go. Carbide doesn't like dwelling, machines without rigidity and recutting chips. If you settle on carbide get yourself a grinder with a diamond wheel. Most carbide fails on the corner first, a simple chamfer ground on the corner will enable you to use the cutter for roughing.

 

[memphisjed]

I like the hss 4 flute in bronze, carbide whatever coating is on sale from Mari/garr/ultra tool/gorilla.. in the size I want. My go to mill is five flute 3/8 gar with .03 rad.
Used tires, files, endmills are great if stuck on the side of the road or in jail. Not worth purposefully buying if you have a chance.

I do not like aluminum- I Have managed to keep it off my mill.

 

[kenton]

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