I'm a part-time knifemaker with a mini mill. Mostly I use it for
drilling & tapping but occasionally need to ruin, er, machine a piece
with its regular milling capabilities. This can involve end cutting or
side cutting.

Over the years I've collected a variety of end mills, mostly from sets,
all center cutting, 2-flute and 4-flute (I understand the difference),
single end and double end. Must have 2 or 3 dozen of these in different
sizes, all dull.

In fact, they seem to go dull incredibly fast, although they cut fine
when brand new. Might be my technique, might be the mini mill (not
rigid enough), might be I'm not holding my mouth right. Might also be
because they are the cheapest end mills available so they can be sold
in sets for $35 or so.

So I'm looking to buy some quality end mills -- just straight, center
cutting mills, in basic sizes 1/8" 3/16" 1/4" 3/8" 1/2" etc. And I want
them to last a little longer than the sets I've been buying.

I've got the MSC Big Book in front of me, and there's a bewildering
arrays of brands, styles, materials, coatings, functions, and I presume
quality. So I just don't know where to start in making a decision about
which one(s) to buy. My budget is not unlimited so I can't afford to
experiment with tooling that won't do the job.

I am cutting mostly annealed carbon steels, stainless, damascus,
titanium, German silver and lots of softer stuff for scales and
embellishments. Most of this is just light cuts to straighten out an
edge or make multiple identical pieces. Shallow slots. I've used the
mill to cut the flats on hunting knives, taking 0.005" off at a time.
Even some freehand stuff for inlays. The rest of it is probably as
varied as the stuff you guys do.

If any of you have any recommendations, I'd be grateful for them, and
any other advice about end mills you'd care to share.

-Frank

--
Here's some of my work:
http://www.franksknives.com/