indexable endmill on a small mill/drill

I use a Warco WM14 mill/drill for making parts for stationary engine models and small 5in locos. These are usually small mild steel and cast iron parts plus some brass and bronze items. Predictable, when using end mills for surfacing, the corners chip very easily and shorten the tools life. I know Tubal Cain suggests bevelling end mill cutting edges to ease this problem and it does seem to work to a certain extent. But I am wondering if a 16mm Indexable endmill as sold by Chronos would improve the situation for steel and cast iron.

Has anyone any comments regarding these tools and their use with the WM14 (it seems to be quite a rigid machine for its size).

Any comments would be appreciated.

Regards

Geoff.

Michael,

Thank you for your reply. I did consider fly cutters, but have always thought they are more for light finishing cuts not bulk metal removal?

Regards

Geoff.

I bought an indexable endmill (on the Warco stand at Alexandre Palace) I also bought a flycutter which takes a 1/4 sq HSS bit.

So far I have only used the flycutter! it's great, bit ground with a nice rad on the end gives a good finish and mkes me wonder why I bought the endmill!

Alan

Geoff,

If the corners of end mills are chipping on mild steel and cast iron then something is wrong. What feeds, speeds, depth of cut and stepovers are you using? And what about the endmill, 2,3 or 4 flutes, HSS or carbide, coating and make?

Regards,

Andrew

Andrew,

Perhaps my post was a bit misleading. I've only noticed the corners chipping on steel. The endmills are 4 flute, HSS un-coated and from various manufacturers. Stepovers vary depending on the job but usually the maximum the tool will take.

Regards

Geoff.

Geoff

I too have a WM14 Warco mill and have used cutters from 2mm to 16mm on aluminium, brass, EN3 steel, silver steel and cast iron and have not had a problem. On the EN3 I took quite agressive cuts but the mills survived intact. The only time I have had problems is from chip crowding, I think that is the term, when once I broke a 2mm mill by reversing it into a cut that was packed with chips and the other time when cutiing EN3 chips got carried into the cutting path and an edge/tip broke away. I mainly use branded HSS mills that I have got from Ebay as 'new & unused', been lucky with the prices,but also I have used solid carbide mills without a problem and these are less tolerant to intermittent loads than HSS. That said I have bought in cutters from the far east Richon Tools, at silly prices delivered, and these have worked very well and survived.

While ths doesn't help you directly it gives an indication that the WM14 will take quite agressive cuts without damaging the tools. I assume that you are milling against the cutter direction and not climb milling as the latter can cause snatching and has the potential to damage cutters. Other than that I use a cutting fluid/oil applied with a brush and tend to try and keep the cutting area relatively free of swarf when possible. When surfacing I tend to use a maximum of about 2/3 of cutter diameter as a stepover.

Cheers

Martin

Edited By Martin W on 30/04/2012 00:36:49

Geoff,

I have what looks to be the equivalent of the Warco WM14 supplied by Chester - the Champion 16V.

I bought a 2" diameter indexable end mill from one of the exhibitions which has 'sharp internal corner' tips and it is superb. I use it for cutting any material (cast iron, brass, bronze, aluminium and steel) and it cuts them with ease (including intermittent and quite aggressive cutting conditions).

I will be buying some smaller versions and I am also looking into the solid tungsten carbide, combination end/slot drills.

Oh, I have a small pile of HSS cutters ready for the bin but Martin (above) might be right about buying branded cutters. I bought a so called HSS centre drill at the same exhibition and it was useless.

Phil H

Thank you everyone for your comments, everything that was said made a lot of sense. I haven't been able to get into the workshop much lately, but what time I have had has been taken up experimenting with fly cutting for surfacing as suggested by Michael, Alan, John, Martin and Phil. I get a really good finish and the tool seems to last a very long time. End mills now will be used for what they were designed for and not surfacing!

Regards

Geoff.

I have a XJ9520 mill (bought from Amadeal) which - I think - is quite similar to the Warco WM14. I have plans to modify this machine to belt drive - for noise reduction and because a lot of people have had problems with breaking the plastic gear in the gearhead. My gears are still OK, but many say that to use a flycutter is a sure way to break the plastic gear(s). Different make of these machines have different types of gears, some have plastic, and some have brass or steel.

Anyone who have had problems with gearbreaking? Have a quick search on the internet, and you will see that some say that a flycutter should never be used on the asian mini-mills...

Regards Sverre