End mills are purposefully designed tools, and each tip shape provides a different kind of clearing path that may be used in a variety of contexts. The nature of the project, the type of material that has to be cut, and the surface finish that must be achieved all play a significant role in determining which end mill should be used. If you choose the improper cutting tool, you run the risk of swiftly damaging a work piece, which will force you to throw out the entire batch. Not only is that an enormous waste of time, but it also represents a big financial burden for your company.
Before starting up your CNC machine, one of the most difficult tasks you may face is selecting the appropriate end mill. There are a number of factors that need to be addressed, including the material, performance, cost, surface polish, and tool life. Some of the variables that need to be examined are end mill length, geometry, profile type, and material.
Exactly what does it mean to have an end mill? It is a common question that is asked since different terminologies are frequently confused with one another, but the response is that it is not the case. While a drill bit can only produce holes by plunging straight into the material, an end mill may cut laterally into the material to form slots or profiles. A drill bit is only meant to create holes. In addition, the vast majority of end mills are made to be center-cutting, which indicates that they are able to plunge into the material as well. This ability makes end mills far more adaptable than drill bits.
Your decision will be heavily impacted by these three important considerations:
- What type of forms do you want to mill (two-dimensional contour, three-dimensional shape, holes, etc.)?
- What sort of material are you interested in milling?
- In terms of performance and surface polish, what do you want to achieve while still maintaining a cost that is reasonable for you and working within the constraints of the capabilities of your CNC machine?
Your answers to these questions will help you decide the appropriate tool geometry, which will depend on the sort of project you are working on, the material that is being cut, and the surface finish you want to achieve. So let’s get started on the theory, and if you have any questions along the way, I’ll address them with some actual instances afterwards.
Overall length
Let’s say you have a high component and you want to mill an extremely deep pocket inside it. In order to mill the bottom of the material without your spindle mandrel coming into contact with the stock of the material, you will require a long tool. Therefore, the depth of the cut that your end mill needs to make into the material will define how long it needs to be. The term “stickout” is used to refer to the idea that is linked with this finding. The distance from the end of the tool holder to the tip of the end mill serves as the defining dimension for it.
Additionally, bear in mind that the cutting depth of your end mill should never go beyond the length of the china 4 flutes end mills on the tool. If you cut deeper than the length of the flutes on your tool, the chips won’t clear as they should, heat will build up, and you run the danger of damaging it.
At this point, it could appear to be a good idea to invest in end mills that are as long as physically feasible so that you have the ability to utilize them in a greater variety of settings, right? In point of fact, this is not the case because the stick out of a tool contributes to its overall lack of rigidity. The term “tool deflection” refers to the bending that might occur in a tool as a result of the cutting forces acting upon it. This can occur if the protrusion is too large and the working conditions are too demanding.
Tool deflection may be rather problematic due to the fact that it causes the following:
- Chatter, which can be defined as vibrations that are created by the relative movement of the workpiece and the cutting tool;
- A poor surface quality that is characterised by ripples, which are mostly caused by the chatter;
- Tolerances that are not correct on the machined part;
- Decreased useful life of the instrument as a result of fatigue caused by bending
To summarize, shorter end mills have greater rigidity and cost less than longer ones. Therefore, you should keep the extra-long ones for procedures in which they are truly required.
End Mill Materials
High-speed steel (also known as HSS) and carbide are two of the materials that are most frequently utilized in the production of end mills. HSS is beneficial in machines that are older, slower, or less stiff, and it is also useful in manufacturing by China end mill manufacturer that is either one-off or extremely short run. It has a lower price point, is less fragile, and is more forgiving of unstable situations, but the performance will be slower. Carbide is the material of choice for use in CNC machine machines because it enables greater speeds, requires fewer tool changes, and boosts overall productivity. In these kinds of applications, the greater cost is easily justifiable because the tool life is extended and the cycle durations are cut down.
High-Speed Steel, often known as HSS, has a lower cost than the other option, has strong resistance to wear, and can be milled to work with a wide variety of materials, including metals and wood.
End mills made of coated carbide are more costly than those made of high-speed steel (HSS), but they offer more stiffness and can be operated at speeds that are two to three times quicker than HSS. They are also very resistant to heat, which makes them excellent for milling materials that are more difficult to cut.
If this is the case, are carbide end mills worth the additional cost?
Yes, without a doubt. They are able to operate far quicker than HSS, which means that they will significantly boost the productivity of your machine. The fact that they are also more durable and have a longer tool life makes the initial financial outlay worthwhile.
Including a quality coating on your end mills is an additional simple method that can improve their performance. TiAlN (titanium aluminium nitride), the most popular one, will enable you to cut 25 percent quicker on average without requiring an excessive amount of additional financial investment.
If performance is not a primary concern of yours, then you should go with carbide end mills that have a diameter of 8 millimeters or less. When the tool stiffness can be compensated for by its greater diameter, HSS should be considered for bigger cutters since it can save you some money. In addition, if you are just starting out with CNC milling, keep in mind that you will likely make some errors and break a few end mills before you get the hang of things; thus, you should invest in some superior HSS ones as well.
Shank and Cutter Diameter
The diameter of your tool will have a direct impact on the types of profiles that can be cut with it. Let’s imagine you want to construct a box that has interlocking joints at 90 degrees and create it yourself.
It won’t be feasible to complete the task in its current state due to the fact that your tool is a cylinder with a fixed radius. In point of fact, the tool will leave behind a circular profile in each and every one of the inside corners, with a radius that is equal to half the tool’s diameter. When the diameter of your end mill is increased, the radius of this circular profile will also increase. The term dogbones refers to the solutions that CNC operators implement in order to address issues like this one. The form of a corner known as a dog bone corner is one that is stretched beyond the region that was cut in order to make a precise 90 degree angle.
On the other hand, expanding the diameter of your tool provides you with two significant benefits. To begin, it increases the tool’s rigidity, which enables you to produce cuts that are deeper while simultaneously reducing the amount that the tool bends. Because a change in diameter of two times will result in a change in stiffness that is sixteen times greater, it is significantly more rigid. Second, it enhances your MMR, which stands for material removal rate, since the end mill is able to remove more material in a given amount of time while it is moving within the material. This enables you to optimise specific processes and complete the same task in a shorter amount of time.
Number of Flutes
Flutes are the deep spiral grooves that permit chip production and evacuation. Flutes may be found in a variety of materials. They are the component of the end mill anatomy that is responsible for producing those razor-sharp cutting edges, which are also referred to as “teeth” in some contexts. The quantity of flutes on your end mill is an important element, the majority of which is determined by the type of material you intend to cut and the capabilities of your machine.
In point of fact, the number of flutes on your end mill will have an effect on:
- The pace at which your machine is fed,
- The surface finish of your artwork overall, as well as
- Ability of the instrument to remove chips from the surface.
If you raise the number of flutes on your end mill, you will either need to boost the feed rate or slow down the rotating speed of your spindle in order to maintain the same level of chip load. This is because the number of flutes is directly tied to the feed rate. It is possible that you may need to select an end mill that has fewer or china 4 flutes end mills, depending on the speed capabilities of both your CNC machine and your spindle. If you are not already familiar with these ideas, we strongly suggest that you read the essay that we have written on the subject of feeds and speeds.
Second, adding more flutes to a cutting tool makes for smoother cuts, but it also reduces the amount of space that is available for chips to escape. When you are cutting soft materials, this point can be somewhat ignored, but it cannot be ignored at all when you are cutting hard materials like aluminium, for example. The reason for this is that, in comparison to other materials, aluminium chips are often rather big. Therefore, when an wholesale tool end mill is used to cut into a hole or a slot, the flutes on the tool offer an essential pathway for chips to exit the cutting area. This helps to explain why it is recommended to use end mills with either two or china 4 flutes end mills when working with aluminium. These end mills have a greater chip clearance than end mills with four flutes, which causes the chips to gradually jam, which causes the cutting edges of your tool to overlap, which eventually causes it to break. To summarize, having fewer flutes is optimal for chip clearance, while having more flutes results in a surface finish that is smoother.
Helix Angle
Helix angles of general-purpose wholesale tool end mill are normally around about 30 degrees. During the milling process, a reduction in the cutting forces, as well as a decrease in the quantity of heat and vibration, can be achieved by increasing the helix angle. Therefore, end mills that have a larger helix angle have the tendency to generate a superior surface finish on the workpiece they are used on. Fortuitously, it comes with a trade-off of some kind. The end mill will become less robust and will not be able to withstand heavy depths of cut when fed at high rates. Therefore, angle cutters with a lower helix are more robust, but the surfaces they cut leave a rougher finish.
Shapes and Types
There are as many distinct types of end mills as there are different cutting operations that may be performed, such as profiling, contouring, slotting, counterboring, drilling, and so on. The most important ones are discussed in this brief review.
The most popular kind are square end mills, which are versatile tools that can perform a variety of milling operations, including as slotting, profiling, and plunge cutting.
End mills with a corner-radius feature have corners that have a small rounding to them. This helps the end mill distribute cutting forces evenly, which helps minimize damage to the wholesale tool end mill and increases the end mill’s lifespan. They are able to produce grooves that have a level bottom and inside corners that are rounded off somewhat.
Roughing end mills are utilized in heavy operations for the purpose of efficiently removing large quantities of material. Their construction enables very little to no vibration, but the finish is more uneven as a result.
Tapered end mills are a type of center-cutting tool that are also capable of plunging and are developed specifically to create angled slots. Die castings and molds are the most common applications for them.
Ball end mills are utilised for milling three-dimensional forms as well as circular grooves. Their tips are rounded.
T-slot end mills make it simple and quick to cut accurate keyways and T-slots, which may then be used to construct working tables or other applications with a similar function.
End mills with straight flutes have a helix angle of zero degrees. Wood, polymers, and composites are some examples of the types of materials that benefit greatly from the usage of these flutes. Spiral flutes can sometimes produce undesirable outcomes because of the lifting effect they have. When working with these types of materials, using end mills with a straight flute helps to reduce the amount of edge fraying that occurs and produces better surface finishes than helical general purpose end mills. Chips are ejected either toward the top or the bottom of the workpiece depending on the helical direction of the flutes, which is determined by the rotation of the cutter in a clockwise direction by your CNC router. Upcut end mills are the most typical type, and they are distinguished by the fact that they expel chips in a direction opposite to that of the material being milled. This is a quality that is essential for the majority of milling operations performed on a wide variety of materials. If you wish to cut laminated materials, you should avoid doing so since it leaves a worse surface finish on the top of the workpiece. This is a disadvantage. The use of a downcut end mill has the benefit of pushing chips down, which results in a neater cut on top; however, this comes at the expense of fraying the bottom edge.
When an upcut and a downcut are combined, the result is a compression cutter. In this type of cutter, the flutes are carved in one direction for the lower half of the flute’s length and in the opposite direction for the upper half. Because of this characteristic, they are excellent candidates for cutting plywood, composite materials, and laminates. If you use one to cut through a piece of plywood in a single pass, you should get edges that are cleaner on both sides of the board.
Grades
Milling tools need to be made of durable materials that can withstand a high level of impact because to the nature of the application, which is essentially interrupted. The coating layer also has to be somewhat thin for the same reason; otherwise, it will not be able to survive the impacts. Carbide Grades are used in the production of cutting tools, which are then used to machine a variety of metals under a variety of machining conditions. For milling the various material groups, the majority of vendors will start with a durable base and then apply a range of coatings. It is necessary for the China end mill manufacturer of carbide grades to conduct research and produce a variety of grades of so that they can cater to a wide range of applications. It can ensure that you have the ability to select an appropriate grade for your application. The variety of grades that may be obtained by milling is somewhat limited. Visit the supplier’s website or catalogue for direction on selecting the appropriate carbide grade for a certain application.
Quality Control Measures
A strict quality control system is required throughout the whole process, beginning with the raw material and continuing through the production process and ending with the completed carbide end mills. Not only should the final carbide end mills have their sizes checked piece by piece, but the physical performance of the end mill, including its hardness, density, anti-bending strength, and metallographic, should also be evaluated.
Advanced Testing Equipment and a Workshop for Trial Cutting
Every manufacturer is under the push to find ways to improve the efficiency of their operations. This includes maximizing the return on your investments in both the manufacturing equipment and the people who use it. Automation is becoming an increasingly important component of that equation; yet, the primary focus of many firms is on deriving additional value from the machinery they currently possess.
Advanced testing equipment and trial cutting workshop, we use Germany ZOLLER, at HUANA are one area in which shops are experiencing large returns. Machining difficult items more rapidly and to higher quality standards is not the only goal here. It is also about accomplishing more with a single configuration in order to complete a job.
Grinding Machines
Grinding machines have a wide variety of applications, one of which is tool grinding. In order to manufacture or re-sharpen a work piece, this method calls for a manufacturing process that is based on machining and uses abrasives or grinding wheels.
The production of tools and their subsequent sharpening rely on grinding machines. You are able to reshape tools using our machine tools, which are capable of handling complicated tool geometries. HUANA 60 Imported five-axis CNC grinding machine like ANCA, WALTER with Sufficient capacity and inventory are world-class tool grinders for manufacturing and re-sharpening. These machines range from entry-level models to high-end solutions to meet a variety of needs.
Choose the Best End Mills from HUANA
No of the task at hand, we are pleased to provide a comprehensive selection of HUANA end mills, each of which is intended to provide you with an advantage over other manufacturers in the industry. We are here to assist you in choosing the appropriate end mills and other cutting equipment for your business in China, if you have any queries about how to do so you can contact us.
