Cheap Carbide End Mill

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Inspector
Posts: 721
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 4:25 am
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Re: Cheap Carbide End Mill

Post by Inspector »

Mr Ron wrote:Carbide end mills are usually considered throw-away's hence the cheap imports. Good HSS bits and end mills can be sharpened many times and since these came from a maintenance department, they are not used in production schedules; use it once or twice and toss it. Once a carbide tip is chipped, it is gone.
That is kind of a blanket statement. Carbide end mills can be sharpened several times before they are discarded. The size of the end mill is what will determine whether they are economical to have sharpened. I picked up 7 (mostly Garr's) from work today that were chucked because they were ground under the size range that the CNC programs use. They are supposed to be 1.000 to 0.950 in diameter and were a few thousands under minimum. A couple 3 are perfect and the remainder have a small chip on the end or half way up the flutes from being thrown into the scrap box. The ones with a chipped tip will still side mill fine and the ones with a chip in the flute can still mill at least 1 1/2" deep before getting to the chip. For my home shop needs they are great even if the flutes are a touch on the shallow side. I'm working on the tool room guys to put the undersize re-sharpend bits aside instead of chucking them. I'm a cheap scrounge too and stock up on any bit that may be useful down the road. :wink:

Playtoy_18 what kind of mill do you have, and what shank diameters will it hold? I might be able to help you out with a couple carbide and HSS endmills.

Pete

Looks like Harold beat me to it. :)
Mr Ron
Posts: 2126
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:36 pm
Location: Vancleave, Mississippi

Re: Cheap Carbide End Mill

Post by Mr Ron »

Playtoy; If you are only working aluminum, you don't need carbide. HSS will give you a better finish The reason for carbide is production speed rate. A home machinist isn't into production. You need to choose the correct endmill for aluminum. Bright finish HSS works best. Check with a tooling catalog. It will tell you the correct grades and types of steel bits for aluminum.
Mr.Ron from South Mississippi
Playtoy_18
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:59 pm

Re: Cheap Carbide End Mill

Post by Playtoy_18 »

I've been reading and watching videos learning more.
I know I dont need carbide,but thats what he had buckets of :)
I'm not sure what sizes I need yet,my mill can accept at least up to 3/8" i'm pretty sure.
I've not learned yet what factors determine the shank/bit sizing however.
I do know I need a flycutter for a couple things I have planned.
That was alot of the reason for finding cheap bits,to experiment and not worry about messing up a $20 bit.
Might just get the $80 HF set for now,though i'm watching lots on ebay also.
I still need practice on centering peices on the machine.
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