Introduction to milling cutter tools

The types of milling tools mainly include end mills, face milling cutters and flat milling cutters. Typical milling processes include milling plane, chamfering or milling edge, milling profile, milling groove, milling cavity, milling keyway, etc.

Several commonly used types of end milling cutter design include: square head double-edged end milling cutter, can be like a bit on the workpiece vertical insertion milling or side milling. Their end teeth extend to the center of the milling cutter, so they can be inserted and milling. Some three edged end mills can also be used for plunge milling. Double edged and three edged end mills are suitable for processing non-ferrous metals. The ball end double-edged vertical milling cutter can be used for milling circular bottom grooves or circular arc edges.

Compared with the double-edge end milling cutter, the square-head four-edge finishing end milling cutter is more stable and can maintain the edge sharpness for a longer time, but it can not carry out insert milling. These milling cutters are most suitable for cutting ferrous metals. Compared with four-edge finish milling cutter, four-edge rough milling cutter can remove metal more quickly with less machine power, tool deformation and vibration, and its chip breaker can produce finer and more controllable chip.

Spiral grooves of end mills can reduce machining chatter. In machining, one or more points of the spiral groove are always in contact with the workpiece, and the metal material is continuously cut so that the machine tool bears a continuous load, unlike in machining with a straight groove tool, the tool will produce a shock load each time it begins to contact and disengage from the workpiece. Although manufacturing spiral groove tools is more complex and costly than making straight groove tools, the reduction of machining chatter and the improvement of surface finish make it worthwhile.

The integral end mills have various types and specifications. They can be divided into right and left ones. When the direction of cutting force must be changed to avoid pressure on the workpiece, a left end milling cutter is needed. In addition, the length of the milling cutter varies, including short slots, common slots, long slots and elongated slots. The end mill can also be tapered, usually with tapers of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, and 25 degrees on each side. These tapered end milling cutters are particularly useful in mold processing in order to provide a drawing slope (taper) for easy demoulding of molded products.

Nested end milling cutter can use both end and side edges to cut at the same time to provide good surface finish. The diameter of the common milling cutter is 30 - 150mm and the groove depth is 13 - 20mm. Due to the limitation of power and rigidity, the vertical lifting platform milling machine is limited to the use of smaller sleeve type milling cutters. The sleeve type milling cutter with larger diameter can be used for milling aluminum and plastics.

The face milling cutter is used for processing larger planes and rapidly removing large quantities of metal materials. The diameter range of the clamp blade face milling cutter is usually 13 - 75mm. Due to the insufficient rigidity of the machine tool structure and the resulting chatter, the vertical elevator milling machine is limited to the use of small diameter face milling cutters. Face milling cutter is more suitable for large single column (single arm) milling machine. When soft materials, such as aluminum and plastic, are machined by face milling, a larger diameter face milling cutter can be used without chattering.

The flat milling cutter is usually used in the horizontal machining center, and is installed on two ends of the mandrel. Horizontal end-milling machines provide the power and rigidity required to enable flat milling cutters to take full advantage of high metal removal rates. However, through the installation of horizontal milling accessories, vertical lifting table milling machine can also be used for milling cutter. Although smaller cutting parameters must be used on the vertical elevator milling machine than on the horizontal milling machine due to rigidity and flutter, this accessory is still very useful. In the vertical elevator milling machine with horizontal milling accessory, flat milling cutter has higher metal removal rate than other milling cutters. In the absence of a horizontal milling machine, it is the best way to install several milling cutters on the same mandrel at the same time. The flat milling cutter is usually wider than the workpiece and can be used for milling the entire section of the workpiece.

The side edged flat milling cutter is similar to the flat milling cutter, but they can also be machined with the side blade. The side edged flat milling cutter can also grooves, cut heavy metal rods, smooth the surface and cut the material into strips. They can be mounted on an end-supported R8 shank for machining, but it is preferable to use them in horizontal milling accessories of higher rigidity horizontal milling machines or vertical elevator milling machines. Like a flat milling cutter, the side blade milling cutter can also be installed with other milling cutters at the same time for Multi Tool cutting.