On Oct 10, 1:45*am, "Michael Koblic" wrote:
Jim Wilkins wrote:
...
0.1" and 0.2" are convenient to move without reading the dial and
about the maximum the endmill will cut freely, since the center
doesn't cut as well.

Do you do this with 2-flutes or 4-flutes?

Michael Koblic
Campbell River, BC

At work, whatever is still sharp. I'm an electronic tech and don't
usually get the big jobs so what milling I do there is more like light
hobby work. At that level feed and depth of cut have more effect than
the number of flutes. I speed up the crank until the tool or machine
starts to complain, then back off. On that lot of plastic boxes for in-
house test use the slots were only for clearance so I pushed the cut
to see what would happen.

I think the idea is to make each cutting edge take a healthy bite
because edges wear more from distance travelled than thickness
removed, then have enough flute spacing for the chip produced. In
practice there isn't that much difference between 2 and 4 or the 8
flutes on my shell mill, they all work well with the right feed, speed
and depth of cut.

jsw