Milling steel

It files fine. I don't think it's hardened.
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I just remembered that when I cut my tool holders down, I used my inserted carbide fly cutter and shaved them down. If you want to use an end mill, use the 1/2" one and run at about 400-500 rpm. Try small cuts and work your way up. By small, I mean 0.025" deep, and increase if that goes well. Be sure you conventional mill it.
 
I've got a mini mill. Before I got lucky and bought a large batch of US end mills, I bought a couple of sets of cheap Chinese end mills, viz:

http://www.banggood.com/10pcs-HSS-4...Straight-Shank-End-Mill-Cutter-p-1076080.html

For the money they work very well. And if I screw something up I'm not going to cry over them at that price.

They have free shipping to the USA, don't know about Canada.

I want to mill that shank down to 1/2" and use the tool. I tried using the 1/4" 4 flute and did a bit of a test and it was like grinding rocks

It might be better to grind off most of the excess and finish it on the mill.
 
Shawn,we both have realized that this hobby is going to be an expensive one.
The moment I think I have the right tools for a job, I find another tool that would be more proper and better :mad: , then I convince myself,this is, it get it and you can do most basic tasks which is never true,there's always a tool I want to get,always.

If it makes you feel any better about milling MS with a mini mill, I'd say I felt the same way at first but found out I was too worried for nothing, this is how I made it work for me:
I don't use any end mills bigger than 1/2", don't remove more than .020" in each pass(.010" is even better),always lock the axes not in use. use cutting oil liberally. find the right RPM/the sweet spot for the diameter of the end mill.
Another item you should think of buying:) is, a portable metal cutting bandsaw , it helps to remove most of the material before you even get to milling it, a roughing bit is also a must have, it removes mild steel almost as quickly as aluminum.
I myself don't have many tools but I do have a Portaband bandsaw, you're welcome to use it.
If the vibration of the milling machine is too much , try to evenly bolt it down or somehow anchor it to a stable surface.
That's all I can think of for now.
 
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I've got a mini mill. Before I got lucky and bought a large batch of US end mills, I bought a couple of sets of cheap Chinese end mills, viz:

http://www.banggood.com/10pcs-HSS-4...Straight-Shank-End-Mill-Cutter-p-1076080.html

For the money they work very well. And if I screw something up I'm not going to cry over them at that price.

They have free shipping to the USA, don't know about Canada.

Holy moly those are cheap!
Free shipping here too. Usually is from China... somehow...
 
If it makes you feel any better about milling MS with a mini mill, I'd say I felt the same way at first but found out I was too worried for nothing, this is how I made it work for me:
I don't use any end mills bigger than 1/2", don't remove more than .020" in each pass(.010" is even better),always lock the axes not in use. use cutting oil liberally. find the right RPM/the sweet spot for the diameter of the end mill.
Another item you should think of buying:) is, a portable metal cutting bandsaw , it helps to remove most of the material before you even get to milling it, a roughing bit is also a must have, it removes mild steel almost as quickly as aluminum.

This is similar to what I've recently started doing when I made the jump to milling steel. I primarily use endmills no larger than 3/8 and have a shallow cut, .010-.015. Also, I got a portable metal cutting bandsaw, mounted it vertical in a stand, and try to take as much off with that before going to the mill. I'm probably being too conservative, but up until a couple months ago all I milled was delrin or aluminum. Still trying to get comfortable with steel.
 
Thanks guys. All good info.
I'm currently trying to mill down that insert tool holder... noisy as all hell...
Using a carbide fly cutter as I think I'm work hardening as I go...
I tried using that 1/2" end mill and pretty sure I pull a dull spot on it. Super thrilled about that...
 
I have only been playing with my LMS mill for a couple of months, but I'm impressed by what it can do. Sure, it's not a Bridgeport, but it can still cut. Having said that, I've totally ruined the ends of two of those cheap, gold end mills that come in sets. I was trying to cut slots in MS, and I got it all wrong. For one thing I was running them at warp factor 9 (don't know why, because I've watched enough YouTube to know about feeds and speeds tables) and I misunderstood something very important. There's so much talk about 2 flute and 4 flute end mills. 2 flute for aluminum, 4 flute for steel. Right? Well, back in my old country (the UK) the 2 flute end mill is called a slotting mill; it's used for cutting slots. 4 flute end mills tidy up faces and ends. When I turned the mill down so slow that I could almost hear the individual cuts (but not quite), used the 2 flute mill (that I bought to replace the one I messed up) and I bit of some oil I had lying around, my little mill chomped through the 4140 like it wasn't there. There were razor sharp needles flying everywhere.

So, go slow, and give it a go. The cheap end mills are plenty good enough in the right hands.
 
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