Reduced Shank Milling Tools

Hey everyone,

I have searched everywhere and I can't seem to find any company that will make a reduced shank carbide endmill.

I can find some reduced shanks that are about 0.03" smaller then the cutting diameter but I'm looking for something like 3/4" cutting diameter and a 1/2" shank. Or 1" cutting diameter with a 3/4" shank.

Does anyone know where to find this kind of bit? The longer the tool is the better...right now I'm working with MDF board and a 6" OAL 1/2" carbide 2flute upspiral endmill (Onsrud). It works great but the mold I'm milling has really steep walls and the router is very close to hitting the mold.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don't understand why no one would make these as I'm sure everyone would find this handy from time to time.

Thanks

This is not standard for carbide tools from any vendor I am aware of. You will have to buy the standard tools then send them out to be custom ground.

Sounds like all you need is a longer end mill.

Yeah I was thinking about going with an 8" OAL bit...the distance it's sitting out of the collet is 4.5" right now with the 6" OAL.

I remember seeing this milling tool once that had replaceable carbide inserts that you screw on. It's more like a facing tool. This would cut down the cost of the expensive over-length endmills and also has a bigger cutting diameter than the shaft. The huge difference in cutting diameter to shaft though is a bit scary.

Do you know what those tools are called?

There are inserted end mills and face mills available. Getting the right shank size with the extended reach you are asking for might be difficult. I recommend making friends with your tool salesman and let them do most of the leg work for you.

Yeah that was my next step. The problem is they handle almost everything we buy...from gloves, to bits, to rubber corn header flaps. I'll try to find an alternative and let ya know how it goes.

Thanks for you input it was helpful :)

I have no affiliation, (other than being a customer), but check out

www.harveytool.com

Good Luck!

Thanks dansutula

It turns out I had a catalog from Harvey Tool. I looked through the catalog today (which I found among my other many catalogs) and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. So I went to their site and you can special order pretty much any kind of tool you want. All you have to do is give the dimensions you require and they'll give you a quote before you buy.

This is something I will definitely look into. It seems they spcialize in specialty tools. For anyone looking for an odd tool, I also recommend checking out Harvey Tool

I'm a big believer in Onsrud for quality and strength. When I inquired about a special tool though, they weren't up to it.

Acrynom, with that much stickout, use the largest diameter tool you can and keep a close eye on tool deflection. A 1" diameter cutter sticking 6 1/2" out of the tool holder can cut surprisingly little depth of cut (the part of the flutes actually cutting) before deflecting more than 0.001" which will really reduce your tool life.

Best,

BW

Yeah even with a 1/2" Diameter 6" OAL sticking out 4.5" really doesn't have a good cut if the depth of cut is over 0.3" at F120 in MDF. I can imagine adding another 2" wouldn't help. It's not so much that I have to mill the mold very fast since I usually leave it going over night and come back to it in the morning...it's that I can't reach certain areas.

Another option I've used in the past since I'm using 5 Axis machines (we work primarily with thermoformed parts...very rarely only using 3 axes) is angled roughing and finishing. I like to stay away from that as much as possible, although it's not always possible.

AcryNom...check out www.cgstool.com...while that that is a major reduction in the shank, we tool make specials and turn them around much quicker than the competition. Presently we do a fair amount of business north of the border.