Difference between face mill and indexable end mill?

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Difference between face mill and indexable end mill?

This topic has 14 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 9 September 2015 at 23:22 by Ady Wilson.

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8 September 2015 at 21:28 #203615
Ady Wilson
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@adywilson52106
I want to use a face mill in my milling machine. I have never used one before and the largest end mill I have used is 20mm hss. I use a fly cutter when I need to get a decent finish on a part but the obvious drawback is small amount which can be removed each pass. Essentially I want to face off some parts and a standard endmill is taking way to long and way to much work to do it.

So I want to have a try with a face mill but am finding it difficult to find a suitable one for my machine. Machine takes 3mt tooling and manual says 50mm max diameter for face mill use. I have looked everywhere but cant seem to locate a complete unit in 3mt. So I was looking at indexable end mills which are easy to find in one unit and are reasonably cheap compared to a face mill.

So my question is will the indexable end mill give me a reasonable surface finish when facing material? or am I better trying to get a face mill?
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8 September 2015 at 21:28 #24100
Ady Wilson
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@adywilson52106
8 September 2015 at 22:14 #203618
S.D.L.
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@s-d-l
You want a face mill. Look at the sandvik ok ones on greenwood tools here

**LINK**

The action is very low cutting force, but will not cut to a shoulder. You can usually find them on eBay given time.

The mountings are available in all popula sizes MT, R8, int 30-40etc.

Much better than fly cutters for giving a good surface finish.

Steve
8 September 2015 at 23:09 #203625
Ady Wilson
Participant
@adywilson52106
Cheers Steve,

I looked on ebay and there a few cheap ones on there. Problem is getting a MT3 arbor to match them, doesnt seem to many which will suit me. I think I might buy a face mill off ebay and make a straight shanked arbor for it which I can run in a collet and adjust dimensions as needed.
8 September 2015 at 23:21 #203628
WorkshopPete
Participant
@workshoppete
Hi Ady

Why not buy a MT 3 blank arbour from Ebay and machine to match your face mill far more rigid than a straight shank griped in something else.
8 September 2015 at 23:58 #203629
Andrew Entwistle
Participant
@andrewentwistle
Hi Ady,

I bought this combination of 63mm face mill and arbor for my Chester Eagle 25/ Axminster ZX25 etc type mill (M12 drawbar) and have been very pleased with it:

**LINK**

MT3 22mm shell mill arbor from Glostertooling.co.uk

Andrew.
9 September 2015 at 08:34 #203639
JES
Participant
@jes
Try CTC tools.

JES
9 September 2015 at 10:32 #203652
David Clark 13
Participant
@davidclark13
An octagonal (8 sided) tip has a very low low tooth loading and if you rotate the tip the right way you can use all eight edges. I used one on a 2 morse taper with no problems so 3 morse should be fine. The arbors should be available with the usual diameters such as 19mm and 27mm if I remember correctly.

Seco make good quality face mills for these tips but they are not cheap. Mine was £25 secondhand from a Myford open day a few years ago.

If you buy secondhand don't overlook that if the shank is wrong it can probably be changed to the correct one.

Edited By David Clark 1 on 09/09/2015 10:38:57
9 September 2015 at 10:33 #203653
Neil Wyatt
Moderator
@neilwyatt
There isn't a 'difference' is between an end mill and a face mill, in that the latter are large diameter and meant for taking broad facing cuts. Either type can use index inserts or not.

The big indexed endmills should be perfectly adequate used as a face mill if you don't want to bankrupt yourself.

Advantage over flycutting is simply that (say) 4 cutting edges allow four times the feedrate for the same quality of finish, plus carbide allows a much faster speed of operation, so you could easily be facing 8-10 times faster than with a flycutter for the same finish.

Neil
9 September 2015 at 13:22 #203683
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
Glanze do suitable facecutters and MT3 arbors
9 September 2015 at 14:15 #203689
John Hinkley
Participant
@johnhinkley26699
As JES said, try CTC Tools. Just had a look and their 63mm facemill with MT3 arbor and ten inserts costs £74.03. Then you'll have to add P&P, of course. Still reasonable, I reckon. It's where I get a lot of my tooling from and I'm very pleased with the quality.

John

Edit: just re-read your original post and see you are after a 50mm one. That's a bit cheaper – £73.38!

Edited By John Hinkley on 09/09/2015 14:37:49
9 September 2015 at 15:50 #203703
Clive Hartland
Participant
@clivehartland94829
I too am looking for an MT3 shell end mill arbor but of 13 mm spigot. They are available on the internet but the price is high. The only reason is I have 13mm hole shell end mills I cannot use. There are plenty of shell end cutters on there too. 30, 40, 50 and up in diameter.

Clive
9 September 2015 at 17:32 #203717
David Clark 13
Participant
@davidclark13
Search ebay for shell end mill. Several inserted tip cutters for about £25 or so.
9 September 2015 at 17:32 #203718
David Clark 13
Participant
@davidclark13
Search ebay for shell end mill. Several inserted tip cutters for about £25 or so.
9 September 2015 at 23:22 #203756
Ady Wilson
Participant
@adywilson52106
Thanks for all the input everyone much appreciated. I managed to find one on ebay with 10 tips for £35+5 for delivery. I had to order the arbor from Hungary (ebay shop) cause I couldnt find a MT3, M12x1.75, 22mm anywhere, came to approx £35 with delivery so altogether it will stand me at about £75 so I am reasonably happy with that.

I am going to take a look at CTC Tools now to see what they sell for future reference.
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