CNC Milling: Introduction to cutting tools

Cutting tools come in a range of sizes, materials, and geometry types.

It is generally more efficient to use a combination of different toolpaths and tools to
achieve a detailed model rather than assuming that a small tool with a smaller
stepover is the only way. Often, a larger tool can achieve better finish results.
In end milling, the cutter generally rotates on an axis vertical to the workpiece.
Cutting teeth are located on both the end face of the cutter and the periphery of the
cutter body.

A ball nose end mill, also known as a spherical end mill or ball end mill, has a
semisphere at the tool end. Ball nose end mills are used on workpieces with complex
surfaces.
Choosing flat end mill vs. a ball end mill will determine the characteristics of the
tooling marks (or lack thereof) on your model. Most jobs will benefit from strategic
use of multiple size and shape tools for milling different features. End Mills are often
used for roughing and 2D cutting and V-Bit and Ball Nose cutters are often used for
finishing operations.

End geometry
There are up-cut, down-cut, compression cut end mills with varying numbers of
flutes. End mills are intended to cut horizontally.
Up-cut, down-cut and compression cut determine the way the chips (cut material) are
ejected and the smoothness of the surface. With an up-cut end mill, the chips will be
ejected upward and the bottom of the material will be smooth. The down-cut end mill
is the reverse by puching the chips downward and the top of the material is smooth.
The compression end mill creates a smooth surface on top and bottom, which is
perfect for pre-laminated woods.
End mills come in a variety of shapes. The most common are flat end mills and ball
end mills. Flat end mills will cut flat areas with no scallops. However, they leave a
terrace-like scallop on non-flat surfaces. Ball end mills will leave smaller scallops for
the same stepover value on sloped surfaces, but they will also leave scallops on flat
areas.
Models can be tooled with a combination of flat and ball end mills. If only one tool will
be used for all surfaces a ball end geometry will give a more consistent overall feel
and smooth result.
Flat end mills can be Center Cutting and Non Center Cutting: Center cutting square
endmills are essential for plunge milling. Non-center cutting mills are used only for
side milling.

When choosing a ball end mill always chooses the largest size available. For the
same stepover, a larger tool will leave smaller scallops, thus giving a smoother
result. For a generally smooth model with some areas of fine detail, a large tool
should be used for the overall job and a smaller tool should be used only to clean out
detailed areas.
Larger tools cut more cleanly, have larger clearance, and stay sharp longer. The
velocity of the cutting edge on a larger tool is higher for the same spindle

speed.

Stepover
Stepover is the distance the tool moves over between subsequent passes.
The stepover value (along with tool size) will determine whether the model has a
smooth finish, or tooling marks are visible. It will also directly impact cutting time.
Models with a smaller stepover take longer to cut.

Flute geometry

While the number, direction and type of flutes that a cutting tool has can vary widely,
the tools most commonly used have two flutes and are up-cut spirals.
Some projects may benefit from other types of flute geometry. Contour cutting MDF
or plywood sheets would benefit from down-cut spirals as the tool would push the
material against the CNC machine table as it cuts rather than lift it.

Number of Flutes
Single Flute - Allows for larger chiploads in softer materials
Double Flute - Allows for better part finish in harder materials
Multiple Flutes - Allows for an even better part finish in harder materials
As the number of cutting edges increases, your feed rate should increase to prevent
burning and premature tool dulling. More flutes reduce chip load and improves
surface finish if feed rate remains the same. The most common flute numbers for
general milling operations are two (better space for chip ejection) and four (better
surface finish).
Examples of applications using end mills:

Tool Materials
Material: end mills are made either out of cobalt steel alloys (known as high speed
steel, or HSS), or from tungsten carbide in a cobalt lattice (colloquially shortened to
"carbide"). The latter option is considerably harder, more rigid, and more resistant.
Carbide tools can be run at speeds 2 to 2.5 times faster than HSS tools. When using
carbide tools ensure that your machine tool is rigid with a solid spindle and that
holders have little or no runout. Due to the brittle nature of carbide and the speeds at
which carbide tools are typically run, rigidity is critical to prevent tool breakage.
Coatings: carbide cutters may be further coated with ceramics such as titanium
aluminum nitride (TiAlN, aka AlTiN), titanium nitride (TiN), titanium carbon nitride
(TiCN), and so on. Of these, the bluish-gray TiAlN coating is most common one, and
by the virtue of reducing friction and improving hardness, it boosts the speed of
metal cutting by up to 20%. It extends tool life.