FAQ

1. Please confirm the type of material being machined, as some types of end mills are specially made for certain metals or materials.
2. The presentation of the workpiece, i.e. the shape of its internal and external contours.
3. The depth of cutting required, i.e. the amount of stock to be removed from the internal and external contours.
4. The required smoothness of the working surface and the machining efficiency.

Whether a tool needs to be coated or not depends on the material to be machined. Coated end mills are suitable for use on steel parts, which can significantly improve cutting performance and allow for greater machining parameters. Coated tools have the advantage of higher hardness, better chip removal and longer tool life.
The most common coatings are titanium nitride (TiN), titanium carbonitride (TiCN) and aluminum titanium nitride (AlTiN).

The way to distinguish the difference between end mills and drill bits is to observe the geometry of the drill bit and the shape of the flute to identify the difference.
The drill bit is designed to drill directly and only drill up and down in the Z-axis direction; end mills can cut transversely into materials for grooving and profiling, and some types can even cut in all directions, so they can flexibly form surfaces, surfaces Milling, plunge milling, grooving, drilling and reaming operations.

The number of flute has an impact on the machine's feed speed, the surface finish of the product, and the chip cutting ability of the tool.
Fewer flutes are best for chip evacuation, while more flutes produce a smoother surface finish.
If the number of flutes increases, the feed rate must be increased or the spindle speed must be reduced to maintain a constant chip load.
Therefore, it remains to select an end mill with fewer or more flutes depending on the speed capabilities of the CNC machine and spindle.

1. Square end mills: square end mills are the most common and have a variety of milling applications including grooving, profiling, and screw oscillation machining.
2. Corner radius end mills: ball end mills are slightly round to help distribute milling forces evenly to prevent damage to the end mill and extend its life, and can also be slightly round on the inside corners of flat-bottomed recesses.
3. Roughing end mills: roughing end mills are used for rapid removal of large quantities of material during heavy-duty operations with little or no vibration during machining, but produce a rough surface.
4. Tapered end mills: Taper end mills can be used as center cutting tools for insertion milling and are designed for machining angled grooves in molds.
5. Ball end mills: ball end mills have round tips and are used for milling 3D shapes or circular grooves.
6. T-Slot end Mills: It is suitable for T-slot workpiece cutting.

High speed steel (HSS)
HSS is suitable for a variety of materials, including most metals. It is cheaper, less fragile, and can tolerate unstable conditions.
HSS is the material of choice for most tools used in standard operations, but overall tool life is short and there are limitations in speed and performance. It is deal for older, slower or less rigid machines, and for one-off or extremely short-run processing.

Solid carbide
Carbide has higher stiffness, better heat resistance, and faster cutting speeds than high-speed steel. Not only does this increase productivity, it also allows for cutting a wider range of harder materials. Carbide end mills are commonly used for finishing purposes and are preferred in CNC machines that require higher speeds, reduced tool changes and increased productivity.

When the rotation direction of the milling cutter is the same as the feed direction of the workpiece, it is called down milling, and when it is opposite, it is called up milling.

Up milling:
The cutting effect is to remove chips from top to bottom.
Features:
There is a lot of friction and resistance during processing.

Features:
There is a lot of friction and resistance during processing.

Down milling:
The cutting action is to remove chips from the surface of the workpiece from bottom to top.
Features:
A. There is less friction and resistance during processing.
B. Easy to clamp, no vibration, and high precision of the processing surface.

The forming end mill is a special end mill used for machining formed surfaces. Its flute profile needs to be designed according to the profile of the workpiece being processed. Surfaces with complex shapes can be processed on general-purpose milling machines, ensuring that the shape is basically consistent and has high efficiency. It is widely used in batch production and mass production.