Starter Set of End Mills

[dcrowder]

What diameter mills are people using for say pocketing, cutting out and carving/profiling?

[JAZZCNC]

What diameter mills are people using for say pocketing, cutting out and carving/profiling?

How longs a piece of string.? . . . What I'm meaning is it depends on the Job. If for instance you have pocket 100mm square your not going to use 3mm end mill with 50% step over. You'll want something wide to Hog the material out. Then you have material type etc.

The cutters you use will be more Job specific than one size or type fits all.
For learning then just buy a few cheap 2 flute endmills rangeing between 3 - 8mm and you'll do most work. For V-carving then 60 & 90 degree V bits will do most work, diameter isn't so important with V-bits.

When you are more comfortable then you'll buy endmills suited to the job and will soon find that quality endmills are worth the money. You'll also have preference on manufacturer or Range of mills.

[dcrowder]

Yep I appreciate that a 2mm bit isn't going to be much kop at pocketing but where do you stop on diameter lol! I'm not expecting one size fits all more something along the lines of a basic assortment of bit types that'll get me by for starting out.

As has already been said - I'm going to be snapping bits so I'll be upgrading to posher bits once I know what I'm doing, as always I'm sure you get what you pay for!

[Clive S]

Yep I appreciate that a 2mm bit isn't going to be much kop at pocketing but where do you stop on diameter lol! I'm not expecting one size fits all more something along the lines of a basic assortment of bit types that'll get me by for starting out.

As has already been said - I'm going to be snapping bits so I'll be upgrading to posher bits once I know what I'm doing, as always I'm sure you get what you pay for!

Personally I would concentrate on building the machine first as by then you would have a lot more experience and know what the machine is cable of.

[JAZZCNC]

Yep I appreciate that a 2mm bit isn't going to be much kop at pocketing but where do you stop on diameter lol!

Exactly my point. . . It's job dependant.!! Provided you have the spindle power and machine is capable then In practice you'd use the largest size you feel you can get away with.

My comment of "How longs a piece of string" comes from all the variables invloved and Clive saying finish the machine is very relevent.
Machine strength makes huge difference to how cutter performs. Chatter is BIG killer of tooling and even if using cutting parameters that are well within cutters abilty if the machine is weak and resonates causing chatter then you'll like break the cutter.

2 Flute cutter is good general purpose tool for learning. Size will depend on Job and spindle power machine strength etc but just bare in mind small tooling breaks easier than large tooling and is more unforgiving of wrong cutting parameters.

Most common sizes I use are 3mm 4mm 6mm 8mm 10mm 12mm. With 4mm 6mm and 8mm being the most common. The larger ones I never break just wear out. 3mm break often before being worn out. This is often because of change in material while cutting ie: Sticky spot or chips not being cleared good enough. That is how critial cutting parameters and chip clearing can be on small tooling.

[dcrowder]

More good advice Jazz thanks. I know I'm not going to get the definitive answer - I'm just after a good starting out point.

I know there is an argument for building it first but the last thing I want is to get the machine built, then have to wait for a week or two before bits turn up. When I was a young'un I got a computer for Christmas (286 12mhz - Total beast.. 1 meg of ram!) I opened the box and they'd forgot to put the keyboard in. It was over a week before they opened and all I could do was play a shooting game with the mouse (keyboards were expensive). I don't want to go there again ;)

[Clive S]

When I was a young'un I got a computer for Christmas (286 12mhz - Total beast.. 1 meg of ram!)

I wonder if you still have it as I am looking for a pc with an ISA slot

[dcrowder]

for what reason may I ask? the 286 is long gone and only just ran windows 3.1 when it came out but I can always have a look to see what bits I have :)