RedLine tools...........worth a darn?

So these are right in my backyard..........I buy some stuff from Productivity, but never tried any of their cutting tools................how are their endmills?

https://ecomm.productivity.com/itemdetail/RE11133Z

That is a loaded question. Because I dont know what kind of work you are doing day to day.

We are a prototype and low volume shop. We use a lot of Redline. I would say they are fine. Nothing more than that. The big upside for us is that Productivity is right down the road, and they have most endmills we need in stock. So convenience is a big driver for us.

What he said. I do a lot of prototype and short run. Redlines are usually significantly cheaper than Harvey or Helical, they get the job done pretty well, and I can get them same day. That last bit is worth a lot to me. I haven't been doing long enough runs to make any cutter life comparisons.

I've been using uncoated Redline cutters for years building 7075 aluminum injection molds. For that they are the best bang for the buck (not saying much for just cutting aluminum I know). I do know that years ago we tried some of their corner rad cutters and the corners were no where true to what CR they were listed as. Like noticeable to the naked eye. I have never really put them to the test for steel as I'm more partial to Imco and can get them at nearly the same price. I figure if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

mhajicek said:

What he said. I do a lot of prototype and short run. Redlines are usually significantly cheaper than Harvey or Helical, they get the job done pretty well, and I can get them same day. That last bit is worth a lot to me. I haven't been doing long enough runs to make any cutter life comparisons.

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I have used redline in the past...few toolholders here and there and they are fine. Certainly not on the quality of Haimer shrink fit but...you get what you pay for. They still work great, probably better than Shars. Their collets and stuff work well too. No complaints!

AS for tooling, seems pretty legit and cheaper than the aforementioned brands. At least for the larger diameter stuff.

I want to comment mainly on the micro end mills. I have seen certain brands from MSC and McMaster do this as well...when you get a 1/32" end mill the fluting looks awfully skinny. Meaning that the core on these end mills is really weak. Or the flutes are not very deep and thus the tool looks like you could blow on it and it will break. Just something to note. THe 1/16" I recently got from them looked like this too, I dunno if it is the helix angle causing this or what. It is hard to describe. A picture is worth a thousand words.



Harvey on the right, Redline on the left. See what I mean? Both are 3 flute 1/32" end mills.

For the micro stuff I will stick with Harvey, even if it means I have to shell out $30 for some 6 flute stainless steel finishers. They just perform so well.

metalmadness said:

View attachment 333227

Harvey on the right, Redline on the left. See what I mean? Both are 3 flute 1/32" end mills.

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Just from the picture, it looks like the core diameters are comparable, but they have different pitch angles.