How to Choose High Speed Machining End Mills for Hardened Steel?

High speed and high-hardness end mills are a good helper to improve efficiency.

The high-speed and high-hardness end mills can cut mold steel, cast iron, stainless steel, etc., with a hardness of about HRC30 under high-speed rotation when the fixture is clamped, which is truly “cutting iron as mud”. It is designed for machining hardened steel up to 30-50 HRC, HB250-400 quenched and tempered steel, and can also process materials that cannot be processed by ordinary end mills such as stainless steel.

There are many types of high-speed and high-hardness end mills. Among them, the more common ones are square end mills and ball nose end mills for shoulder face milling, slot milling and profile milling. They are characterized by high toughness, not easy to wear; efficiency is higher than ordinary end mills.

Let me share with you the following aspects when choosing high-speed and high-hardness end mills:

First, generally speaking, if the number of edges is small and the chip flute is large, the chip discharge can be relatively smooth, but at the same time, the cross-sectional area of the tool is small, the rigidity of the tool body is low, and the tool body is likely to bend during cutting. Conversely, if the number of edges increases and the cross-sectional area of the tool increases, the rigidity of the tool body will increase, but the chip flute will become smaller and the chip holding force will decrease, which will easily lead to chip jams and reduce the surface finish of the workpiece.

The shorter the cutting edge of the high-speed and high-hardness end mill, the more rigid the cutter body and the better the cutting performance. The rigidity of an end mill is inversely proportional to the 3rd power of the flute length (overhang length).

Therefore, if the edge length (overhang length) of a high-speed and high-hardness end mill is doubled, the rigidity of the cutter body will be reduced to 1/8. The end mill is a radial tool, which is very important. If the edge length of the end mill greatly exceeds the necessary cutting length, it will have a negative impact on the end mill and its performance.

Where to buy such high quality solid end mills for hardened steel? The answer is Our.

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