1" Indexable end mill choices................

I've been using some Kennametal mills for quite some time, but inserts aren't cheap. Figured I should shop around. Who has a decent 4 insert(flute) 1" endmill with reasonably priced inserts? I mainly use it for steel and some stainless. No ali or non ferrous. TIA............................

david n said:

I've been using some Kennametal mills for quite some time, but inserts aren't cheap. Figured I should shop around. Who has a decent 4 insert(flute) 1" endmill with reasonably priced inserts? I mainly use it for steel and some stainless. No ali or non ferrous. TIA............................

Click to expand...

.
been my experience the ones that use the cheap inserts run fairly bad and not worth it. and the smaller and thinner the insert the less it can cut before it breaks

My shop has a lot of Ingersoll brand GoldRush tooling here, NOW i will say that the cutters are fantastic I can't attest to insert costs sadly I don't pay the bills around here but I would gather they are comparably priced to many other IIC tools.
Of course I am located in the hometown of Ingersoll and my boss gets some tooling brought to him for testing by sales reps so that is a huge part of why we use them BUT they are some fine cutting tools I will say that me and the operator I team with have no complaints as to how they work.
The GoldRush drills with Thru coolant are a dream as well (too bad we dont have any more machines with that here any more)
TL;DR
We use Ingersoll brand GoldRush line of products here and they are pretty damn good!

Great cutter here.. I believe its available as a 4-flute as well.
1 INCH APKT END MILL

Inserts are about $80 per box and the polished sharp version for aluminum is available.
The grade PC5300 is true workhorse in carbon steels and stainless.

Sandvik R390
Great shoulder mill!

exkenna said:

Great cutter here.. I believe its available as a 4-flute as well.
1 INCH APKT END MILL

Inserts are about $80 per box and the polished sharp version for aluminum is available.
The grade PC5300 is true workhorse in carbon steels and stainless.

Click to expand...

I'll give them a try.

In truth I use these for my legacy programs...new stuff its just easier and faster to HSM with 3/8 or 1/2 solid.

SIM said:

I'll give them a try.

In truth I use these for my legacy programs...new stuff its just easier and faster to HSM with 3/8 or 1/2 solid.

Click to expand...

.
bigger like 1.5" dia and bigger can hog off stuff fast at 5" to 15" depths. i use facemills from 20 to 70 ipm feed taking at least .125 depth on cast iron. often limit is hp limit of machine and or part vibration

exkenna said:

Great cutter here.. I believe its available as a 4-flute as well.
1 INCH APKT END MILL

Inserts are about $80 per box and the polished sharp version for aluminum is available.
The grade PC5300 is true workhorse in carbon steels and stainless.

Click to expand...

Curtis
How would these compare to Kennametal ADKT16224PDERLC KCPK30 inserts? Are those a Kennametal only insert? Need a 4 flute. My Haas hammers too much with less than 4................

all insert mills face same problem bigger and thicker inserts there is less room for as many inserts. but you can cut more depth of cut.
.
problem with more .394" inserts is just that they are only .394" tall. sure more inserts often the feed ipm is higher.
.
.55" inserts just that can cut .55 depth. many times thats whats wanted too

david n said:

Curtis
How would these compare to Kennametal ADKT16224PDERLC KCPK30 inserts? Are those a Kennametal only insert? Need a 4 flute. My Haas hammers too much with less than 4................

Click to expand...

I run these in my Haas... ISCAR Cutting Tools - Metal Working Tools - HM39 ETP-1 : 316627 - HM39 ETP D1.-3-W1.-1

Granted I can't push it as hard as I can in my Tree 1060, but it still runs pretty solid

david n said:

Curtis
How would these compare to Kennametal ADKT16224PDERLC KCPK30 inserts? Are those a Kennametal only insert? Need a 4 flute. My Haas hammers too much with less than 4................

Click to expand...

Hi David,
That insert is more than like proprietary to Kennametal If you'll notice the APKT style is more prevalent.
The ADKT is thicker so the 16 series AP's and AD's are not interchangeable.
That's a big honking insert to be 4 flute on a 1" tool. Not much metal behind the flute for support.
I'll see what I can find

exkenna,

I had that on my list of tooling to buy soon, this is the 'ripper' people around here talk about right? If I order one is it possible to switch out the box of included steel inserts to a box of aluminum inserts?

Generic Default said:

exkenna,

I had that on my list of tooling to buy soon, this is the 'ripper' people around here talk about right? If I order one is it possible to switch out the box of included steel inserts to a box of aluminum inserts?

Click to expand...

The tool in the link is for a general purpose end mill for 90 degree shoulder work.
There are specific inserts for steels, cast, and stainless, but there is a polished and ground razor sharp insert for aluminum as well.

The Ripper is Aluminum only. Designed for extreme material removal in facing, ramping, pocketing and cavity work.
As such, there are no inserts for steels or stainless. Now.. I have used the facemill version of the Ripper in light facing cuts in Ti and it does extremely well as long as you don't exceed 110 sfm, the inserts being uncoated.

I have tried a few different insert types but the Kennametal has been awesome for aluminum. They have a version that is integrated with a Cat40 taper - very rigid. I don't know the details about the machine cutting the Boeing parts, but it looks slow. I run 300-350 ipm, .7 DOC, .15 WOC at 12k rpm - that's on a Hurco VM10 that probably has about 5hp at that rpm.

The other nice thing about the Kennametal mills is that they have have slightly undersized shanks, which means really deep vertical pocket walls. I haven't found other indexable mills that have that feature

I've tried several different 1" square shoulder end mills. I use them mostly in carbon and stainless steels. I would encourage you to consider a 3 flute. I used a four flute Seco Turbo mill for awhile, but the insert pockets wore out quickly. Later, I was talking to an Ultra-dex factory rep, trying to buy another 1" 4 flute, and he told me that they had discontinued the 4 flute version. The problem with four flutes in a 1" end mill is that they can't put enough meat behind the insert in order to absorb the shock, so the pockets wore out too quickly.

I switched to a 3 flute Seco and had much better insert and tool holder body life.

Based on in-house testing we had the best tool life and metal removal rates using Dapra cutters. (Which is what we currently use.) Seco Turbo Mill, Iscar Helimill, and Mitsubishi (APX series IIRC) were all pretty close to each other with both MRR and tool life. The standard APKT insters (we tried Koraloy and ZCC) were not even close to the same tool life or MRR as the others.

At the time of our testing ( a few years ago), Mitsubishi was the least expensive followed by Dapra then Iscar. Seco was much more expensive. Because of the better tool life the Dapra end mill had the lowest cost per cubic inch of metal removed.