[Mountaincraft]

4 flute end mills intended for aluminum can be used on wood too right? Is there a wear issue or will such a bit last the same as a comparable bit intended for wood?

Or does someone make radiused end mills for wood?

I want to get a couple radiused edge end mills for roughing...

[Mountaincraft]

Something like these?

4 flute radiused end mills..

[Java_AZ]

4 flute end mills are really more for steel rather then aluminum. For aluminum ideally you would want to run a 2 flute end mill. I would go with a 2 flute for cutting wood since it is a softer martial like aluminum. I would expect the cutter to last longer cutting wood then it would cutting aluminum. Would also go with a HSS cutter , Using too hard a cutter like cobalt on soft martial can cause problems.

[aarggh]

In my experience I haven't personally come across a situation where carbide cutters weren't the best for the job with wood, and I always prefer and use them as much as possible. But a four flute cutter with wood is really two flutes too many. With a 4 flute your somewhat pulverizing the soft grain of wood as you are cutting it. And while your cutting, you will likely have a larger heat build up as you can only take shallower cuts with more flutes, unless your powering it through the material, again overheating the cutter in the process.

Less flutes means more aggressive cutting, which really is what you want for something as soft grained as wood. A spiral cutter 2 flute will generally give a perfect finish at a decent feedrate and proper depth of cut every time.

If it's cost, the cheap asian cutters really are pretty damn good I've found, and cost next to nothing.

cheers,
Ian

[Geof]

Get two flutes. They work quite well.

[ssutton]

I have 2 mills in my shop along with my CNC router. I have killed many HSS end mills running them in my router. IMHO HSS is great for slow cutting (rpm) where the chips take away the heat. A router is just too fast and they overheat and wear out fast.

Scott

[Mountaincraft]

I'm not considering HSS, but rather solid carbide.. At least that's the claim.. I'll also be using my S-PID, so they will be running somewhat slower.. I need something with soft edges that doesn't leave marks when pocketing.. Temporary solution until I can rebuild my machine in the shop out of heavy steel...

This is what they are called "Dura Carb Fine Grain Carbide".. Or is that another name for HSS?

BTW, just curious, why is it called high speed steel if high speeds are bad for it? Or does the high speed steel name refer to something else?