[pippin88]

I'm tired of using cheap chinese end mills. Some work great, others are crap, and I hear so many good things about using quality end mills, in MRR, cut quality and tool life.

I've done lots of googling and there are plenty of sources for imperial bits such as Lathe inserts .com. I'm aware I can use imperial if I have to, but metric is much easier for a number of reasons. I think in metric, so designing parts and choosing tools based on radius would be harder if I'm having to translate to imperial.

95% of what I do is aluminium, so I believe coated HSS is what I'm looking for.
I have a converted G0704 equivalent and I don't believe it's up to carbide.

Has anyone found a good source for metric bits?

Help is appreciated.

[Alax7]

Why do you say your mill isn't up to carbide? I use carbide on my x2 with a treadmill motor. I can't comment on the metric end mills though.

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[bladehunter]

You should have no problem with carbide, I've made a flycutter that uses a ceramic insert lathe tool, and that cuts fantastic.

You could always give Hare & Forbes a try. There is always mcjing, McJING Tools Online, in NSW, they do mail order, I bought my BF-20 from them and quite a few bits and pieces as well.

I know they are Hong Kong based but I've bought a few bits and pieces from CTC tools, I'm pretty sure others have used them and have had no problems.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Why do you say your mill isn't up to carbide? I use carbide on my x2 with a treadmill motor. I can't comment on the metric end mills though.

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Carbide is more expensive than HSS. It is, sometimes, capable of cutting faster as well, which justifies the added cost. However, on small machines, there is neither enough RPM nor spindle power, nor rigidity to get any functional advantage out of carbide, so it is simply more expensive. The only exception to this is for small cutters (under 1/4"). Carbide is stiffer than HSS, and that stiffness can be very beneficial. For anything over 1/4", carbide will, of course, work fine, but you'll be spending more on tooling, and getting nothing for that extra cost. Carbide is also MUCH less forgiving than HSS, and chips more easily. So you'll be more likely to chip or otherwise damage a carbide cutter doing things that would not harm a HSS tool.

I do almost all of my work using HSS, except for small cutters. My typical roughing cut in 6061 uses a HSS 2-flute running 6000 RPM and 110 IPM @ 0.05" WOC, 1/2" DOC. I could use carbide, but it would not allow me to go any faster, or deeper, or wider, as I am limited by my machines rigidity and spindle power, not the cutting tool.

Regards,
Ray L.

[jerrybell]

well by that logic the majority of machines in this forum WILL benefit running carbide tools as they tend to use smaller endmills, it's the machines in the rf45, tormach, torus class that tend to run BIGGER tooling so that's where your diatribe might have merit.

[bladehunter]

Ray makes some great points, especially the cost and being less forgiving aspects.

[wizard]

There is no reason not to use HSS on aluminum but I do find carbide to be worth it for machining other materials like stainless. In the end a bit of experience will let you choose the best solution for the task at hand.

[hoss2006]

I'm tired of using cheap chinese end mills. Some work great, others are crap, and I hear so many good things about using quality end mills, in MRR, cut quality and tool life.

I've done lots of googling and there are plenty of sources for imperial bits such as Lathe inserts .com. I'm aware I can use imperial if I have to, but metric is much easier for a number of reasons. I think in metric, so designing parts and choosing tools based on radius would be harder if I'm having to translate to imperial.

95% of what I do is aluminium, so I believe coated HSS is what I'm looking for.
I have a converted G0704 equivalent and I don't believe it's up to carbide.

Has anyone found a good source for metric bits?

Help is appreciated.

Hertel is a good brand I generally get from Enco or Mscdirect and they come in metric sizes too but there are plenty on non-chinese brands that will work.
Here are a few more local to you in metric sizes you might consider.
HSS End Mills - M42, HSS, PM HSS-E and HSCO End Mills
Carbide End Mills Plus, Secure Online Shopping, Premium Quality and competitively priced.
Harmony UNI Series - Endmills
Hoss

[Alax7]

Makes sense. I remember why I started sticking with carbide now, I began using 1/8 and 3/16" end mill on my X2 and for some deeper cuts, the larger hss shank than cutting diameter didn't allow for certain deeper cuts so I started to buy carbide end mills since they are stiff enough to have same shank diameters as cutting diameters allowing for deeper cuts. I now primarily run 1/4" end mills, I think I'll have to invest in some hss end mills

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[wizard]

Makes sense. I remember why I started sticking with carbide now, I began using 1/8 and 3/16" end mill on my X2 and for some deeper cuts, the larger hss shank than cutting diameter didn't allow for certain deeper cuts so I started to buy carbide end mills since they are stiff enough to have same shank diameters as cutting diameters allowing for deeper cuts. I now primarily run 1/4" end mills, I think I'll have to invest in some hss end mills

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Even 1/4" end mills can benefit from the stiffness of carbide. In the end you need to choose based on economics and the ability to get the job done. In my mind there isn't an absolute best answer here. HSS steel is certianly good enough for many applications on these small mills. I just don't think dismissing carbide out of hand is the smart course of action.

[pippin88]

Thanks for the input guys.

I'm seriously considering buying from the US, including a bunch of imperial sizes. Whilst it means it a little more calculations if working MDI / manually, they are much more available and cheaper. It also has the advantage of not rubbing on my standard corner radii. E.g. 3/8" = 9.525mm, which would avoid rubbing that I would normally get with a 10mm end mill in a 5mm radius corner.