On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:08:16 -0600, Tim Wescott
wrote:

On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:08:56 -0800, Frank Warner wrote:

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

Thanks for asking this question -- after looking at the links Gunner gave
I now understand why I lose an end mill every time I try to cut steel.

Next time I'll try for more patience.

Power feeds really really help. When ya are turning your own crank
G...you get bored easy and want to speed it up.

Does lubrication and/or coolant help?


Yes indeedy. I cheat, and use a mister. Valcool or other stuff. Ive
got a 5 gallon bucket of some sort of water soluable Stuff and I mix
it 25:1, and stick it in the mister. Shrug..works fine for me as long
as I dont try to force my crank.......chuckle

I dont know why, but a couple ounces of Dawn detergent in a gallon of
water works pretty well in a mister for steel and aluminum.

I ran out once and racked my lil pea brain for something with good
wetting and some lubricity. Worked well enough.

This is a bit overkill, but works good

http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...m_source=froog

I use old articulated mag bases to hold the nozzels where I want them.

Gunner






"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner