First surfacing tool: advice on indexable endmill

[r-mm]

Thanks all. Are there any Ali Express sellers you guys have had luck with for basic endmills? My project calls for a shallow flat bottom 7/16" hole to mount a magnet, so I was going to look for a basic two flute.

 

[GeneT45]

I have purchased these Accusize / Northward(Accusize's premium line) face mills: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MQFZDPU and they have been excellent. Some of the reviews indicate the same problem(s) that @davidpbest shows in his videos, so I ordered them one at a time and checked them out, prepared to return anything that wasn't 'right'. I don't know if I got lucky, or the manufacturer fixed a quality issue, but I ended up buying four sizes and both the mills and the inserts have been great.

GsT

 

[r-mm]

I'm sure this is a vast simplification but if one is focused only on the quality of surfacing achievable with a typical Bridgeport/Enco style R8, ~2hp manual machine (no power feed in my case) over depth of cut or additional features such as shoulders: is a lower angle such as 45, 75 going to provide a head start?

 

[rodm1]

I went with the APKT/APMT inserts you can get face mills that will use the other 2 unused sides if desired.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803614402592.html

 

[r-mm]

I gave the AliExpress SEHT type tool a try. For under $45 delivered and two positive reviews here, it seemed worth a shot. Will let you all know how it works.

 

[Firstram]

I gave the AliExpress SEHT type tool a try. For under $45 delivered and two positive reviews here, it seemed worth a shot. Will let you all know how it works.

Did you order the arbor?

 

[r-mm]

Sure did

 

[Firstram]

Sure did

That's much cheaper than I remember paying, I did buy 3 boxes of inserts though.

 

[r-mm]

First pass at some 6061. Some radial marks on a light cut, moving right to left at approx 1k RPM.

 

[MrWhoopee]

First pass at some 6061. Some radial marks on a light cut, moving right to left at approx 1k RPM.

Looks like there may have been a little chip welding. Use WD-40 or kerosene and maybe slower feed.