End Mills for CNC

scdiveteam

scdiveteam

Rick Geschrey
Silver Member
Hi,

Does anyone know any discount website suppliers where I can get a good deal 1/32" two fluke end mills.

Rick G
 
scdiveteam said:
Hi,

Does anyone know any discount website suppliers where I can get a good deal 1/32" two fluke end mills.

Rick G
Click to expand...

Ok, I am going to disagree with the other two guys. If you have never used small end mills like this then get them as cheap as you can. You will break them. Buy extra. If you already know how to use them then stick with Precise Bits. You can also buy them from Atlas fiber.

http://www.cuestik.com/

They sells bits from Precise Bits at about the same price and they are aolot closer to you. Precise Bits is the standard for inlay cutters.

good luck, Jim.
 
I've always bought them directly from Ron Reed at Precise.
Nothing else compares for quality, I figure he deserves the profit.
 
two words:

Precise Bits!

They used to be thinkntinker.com years ago!

MC2 is right though if you can get some cheap ones to practice with it's allot cheaper. I know I cringe every time I snap a good new one! I don't really do much inlay right now, just the shafts mostly, but I have been building a few cues for quite a few years.

Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
 
End mills

Lets do the math, 10 of the real deal from atlas 85.00. Unknown 77.00
seems like a no brainer to me. I looked at the site you listed, notice that the bits don't have the fish tail on the bottom, strike one. Don't list tolerances, strike two. Don't list depth of cut, strike three.
 
I didn't think about it but Steve is right.

The depth of cut is huge! Many of those cheap bits can only really cut about .060" or maybe .075" deep. That's not deep enough!

I would strongly recommend that you give Precise Bits a call. They are very easy to talk to and a tremendous help. When we were trying to figure out the best way to cut our Carbon Fiber pads, they helped us a ton!

Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
 
I used to buy .0325 end mills from MSC, J&J and a couple of other places. I bought about 30 of them one time from an importer for 3.25 each but between the run-out and the extra hardness they would break very easily or I was continually having to change my off sets as the parts and pockets would become to sloppy. I still have 10 or 15 of them in a drawer that if I ran out of the quality ones I could dip into in an emergency. I buy the ones from precise 20 at a time and always have back ups in the engraving bits and the larger sizes also.

Dick
 
I have been buying end mill from these guys http://drillcity.stores.yahoo.net/endmills1.html for about a year now. I used to purchase from the other suppliers mentioned here already. These are sharper and have lasted longer than any others I have used. Runnout has been as good as any of the others. Steve is correct, they dont have the fishtail end, they are standard flat faced end mills. I have cut everything from wood, silver, MOP, abalone, ivory, plastics, etc with them and had no problems with any of them. As for DOC, they have in stock about 6 different ones for 1/32" bits. The last ones I ordered were .250" DOC, never know when you want to go a little deeper. You need to call them to order, dont do it online, they dont list the end mills very well online.
Also, if you have not tried this product, you may want to, it keeps the endmills sharper and gives quite the longer life. No oil or silicone, does not effect adhesion of epoxy, wood glue, etc. Great stuff. Bostik DriCote. It comes in a spray can, there is another that comes in a pump bottle, just dont remember the name. My bits last about twice as long.

Kenny Murrell
 
> Does the "fishtail" refer to the endmill tip being ground for center-cutting or not?

From what I've seen,only the 1/32 seems to have a big enough DOC to do full .125 deep inlays. What do you do if you want to clean up the pocket or sharpen the tips with a .020 or 1/64 end mill? Obviously,you wouldn't want to leave a "step" in the corners.

Are these .020 and smaller cutters strong enough to plunge straight into a piece of Ebony,Cocobolo or Wenge or are you drilling a small hole to start? Is this controlled by a super-slow feed rate on the plunge if you aren't starting with a pilot hole?

I drew a simple floating point design in GibbsCAM and inserted it into the Haas mill at school,and tried to do a .025 deep pocket in 5 steps in the top of an aluminum block. At 4000 RPM,which is all that mill will do,and with a feed rate knocked down to like 2 IPM,the fresh carbide 1/32 made it to the 3rd plunge before it broke. Tommy D.
 
Tommy-D said:
> Does the "fishtail" refer to the endmill tip being ground for center-cutting or not?

From what I've seen,only the 1/32 seems to have a big enough DOC to do full .125 deep inlays. What do you do if you want to clean up the pocket or sharpen the tips with a .020 or 1/64 end mill? Obviously,you wouldn't want to leave a "step" in the corners.

Are these .020 and smaller cutters strong enough to plunge straight into a piece of Ebony,Cocobolo or Wenge or are you drilling a small hole to start? Is this controlled by a super-slow feed rate on the plunge if you aren't starting with a pilot hole?

I drew a simple floating point design in GibbsCAM and inserted it into the Haas mill at school,and tried to do a .025 deep pocket in 5 steps in the top of an aluminum block. At 4000 RPM,which is all that mill will do,and with a feed rate knocked down to like 2 IPM,the fresh carbide 1/32 made it to the 3rd plunge before it broke. Tommy D.
Click to expand...

Aluminum is notorious for breaking small end mills. It melts at a low temperature. The friction causes to much heat, melting the aluminum and causing it to weld itself to the end mill thus stopping it's cutting ability. Much coolant must be used which isn't conducive with cue building. If an inlay calls for aluminum I use silver. Much cheaper in the long run.

Dick

Dick
 
End mill help!!

I'm just starting out with doing CNC work and am looking to put together an initial order from PreciseBits. I've read through the info on their site and have been reading these forums for awhile. So far I'm thinking that 1/8", 1/16", 1/32" & 0.020" are common sizes used. DOC sb atleast 0.125". Some questions are, 2 or 3 flute??, coated??, UltraBits?? What works for you?
Any info your experience and expertise can supply would be greatly appreciated!

Here's to a Very Merry Christmas
Garry
 
CdnQmkr said:
I'm just starting out with doing CNC work and am looking to put together an initial order from PreciseBits. I've read through the info on their site and have been reading these forums for awhile. So far I'm thinking that 1/8", 1/16", 1/32" & 0.020" are common sizes used. DOC sb atleast 0.125". Some questions are, 2 or 3 flute??, coated??, UltraBits?? What works for you?
Any info your experience and expertise can supply would be greatly appreciated!

Here's to a Very Merry Christmas
Garry
Click to expand...

Garry get plenty of 1/32. Order at least 10. These are what you start out with. Make sure that you get the ones that will go down to .125 like you stated. The .020 will not go down this far and you are starting out. You will not need these bits. You will break bits. It is going to happen. You will have to learn what works for you. There is no substitute for experience here. No short cuts. Don't be suprised if you break on or two before you even turn your spindle on. I will give you one piece of advice though that may save you a bit or two. When you are done and are going to remove the work piece. Make sure that you have your spindle up and out of the way. Make sure it is no where near your work. If you don't do this you will know what I mean. You will also have to dig some carbide out of the cue or your hand.

good luck, Jim.
 
Thanks for your advise Jim. I suppose that's what why they call it "Safe Z".
Just like Rick, I would also like to get the best value for the money spent on bits. I can see the learning curve is going to be pricey. Just looking to miss some of the potholes on the journey. Thanks for sharing.
Merry Christmas
Garry
 
CdnQmkr said:
I'm just starting out with doing CNC work and am looking to put together an initial order from PreciseBits. I've read through the info on their site and have been reading these forums for awhile. So far I'm thinking that 1/8", 1/16", 1/32" & 0.020" are common sizes used. DOC sb atleast 0.125". Some questions are, 2 or 3 flute??, coated??, UltraBits?? What works for you?
Any info your experience and expertise can supply would be greatly appreciated!

Here's to a Very Merry Christmas
Garry
Click to expand...

When you want to place your first order call and personally talk to the owner or whom ever is answering questions on that day. They are very knowledgeable on these cutters and will give you some very accurate advice. Pay attention and you will save time and money.

Dick
 
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