End Mills wanted which brand?

[GophersGarage]

Hi Guys, I have a mill that I use for general diy projects. I current have full set of collets but only 1 1/2" end mill. I like to get a full set of end mills but I don't know much about them which brands to look into etc.

 

[Grant Gunderson]

I’d order them from an industrial supply shop as you will generally get better quality. In a pinch I’ve bought some accusize stuff off of Amazon and it’s been ok. I’d advise against ordering from Grizzly as every cutter I’ve bought from them has been dull. I’d also recommend insert tooling no if you are looking at larger sizes than ½”

 

[Firebrick43]

Hi Guys, I have a mill that I use for general diy projects. I current have full set of collets but only 1 1/2" end mill. I like to get a full set of end mills but I don't know much about them which brands to look into etc.

I assume you are talking about R8 collets? If so you really shouldn't use them for holding endmills. Get some weldon end mill holders. The screw, with weldon shank endmills will not let them pull out. Nothing ***** more than to realize that your works ruined because the endmill pulled out.

If your using solid carbide endmills, and don't want to grind flats on them yourself, get some er25 tool holders.

As far as brands, I typically get the big name carbides on ebay. Kennemetal, sandvik, mitsubishi, iscar, and walther. I am sure I forgot one but they are all similar with good coatings and high wear. If you haunt ebay normally you can get a deal.

For odd size/shape endmills or I don't have time I typically get lakeshore carbide.

 

[dr_clyde]

I assume you are talking about R8 collets? If so you really shouldn't use them for holding endmills. Get some weldon end mill holders. The screw, with weldon shank endmills will not let them pull out. Nothing ***** more than to realize that your works ruined because the endmill pulled out.

If your using solid carbide endmills, and don't want to grind flats on them yourself, get some er25 tool holders.

As far as brands, I typically get the big name carbides on ebay. Kennemetal, sandvik, mitsubishi, iscar, and walther. I am sure I forgot one but they are all similar with good coatings and high wear. If you haunt ebay normally you can get a deal.

For odd size/shape endmills or I don't have time I typically get lakeshore carbide.

I’ve never heard of anyone saying you shouldn’t hold and end mill in an R8 collet. Most end mills are designed to be held in a collet and an R8 is perfectly appropriate for holding milling cutters. If you’re having problems keeping your cutters in the collet, perhaps you need to tighten your drawbar up a bit more.

Small mills typically don’t have a lot of extra room to spare under the spindle and having the extra length of the Weldon shank holder can really limit work size.

Most manual mill work is done with a 1/2” and smaller cutter anyway, so you don’t need a lot of force to hold one.

 

[dr_clyde]

OP, there is no such thing as a “full set” of end mills. There is an unlimited variety of diameters, lengths, flute configurations, coatings, geometry and so on.

I recommend getting a 2 and 4 flute single end center cutting HSS end mill in 1/16” graduations. TiN coated is nice but not needed for learning. You can buy them reasonably from any common industrial supply new or you can shop online used.

DON’T buy premade sets from the cheap tool supply houses. They’re ****. Buy them from trusted vendors like MSC, Travers Tool, KBC, Penn Tool, or McMaster-Carr.

 

[ER70S-2]

I assume you are talking about R8 collets? If so you really shouldn't use them for holding endmills.

I have never heard this, either, and I have never had an end mill pull out of an R8 collet. If it's properly tightened, I don't even think it's possible. Did you say this based on experience or is it something you heard somewhere?

 

[CHI_Tool&Die]

OP, there is no such thing as a “full set” of end mills. There is an unlimited variety of diameters, lengths, flute configurations, coatings, geometry and so on.

I recommend getting a 2 and 4 flute single end center cutting HSS end mill in 1/16” graduations. TiN coated is nice but not needed for learning. You can buy them reasonably from any common industrial supply new or you can shop online used.

DON’T buy premade sets from the cheap tool supply houses. They’re ****. Buy them from trusted vendors like MSC, Travers Tool, KBC, Penn Tool, or McMaster-Carr.

Yeah, companies literally have books devoted just to dovetail cutters or ball-end mills so there is definitely not a "full set" like one can buy for drill bits and stuff. You are going to buy based on the material you are cutting and how long you want the end mills to last. My shop has purchased HSS stuff, carbide stuff, and a billion different flute and coating combinations. Frasia, OSG, Guhring, NS, Union -- those are what we typically use but I work at a machine shop and one end mill can be running for hours so that's probably overkill for you.

 

[Firebrick43]

Experience.

I have never heard this, either, and I have never had an end mill pull out of an R8 collet. If it's properly tightened, I don't even think it's possible. Did you say this based on experience or is it something you heard somewhere?

Experience.

I was taught that during my apprenticeship. I do use r8 collets many times for small diameter endmill but I have had a roughing endmill and a 3/4 endmill pull out before and ruin work.

After ten years as a CNC machinist I bacame a CNC repairman and me and a tool maker designed and made a spindle taper grinder. We ground many of the tapers of the plant I worked at. Mostly CAT 40 and 50 but we did some R8 spindles.

Don't take my word for it, do a search on Practical machinist.

Also search for tormach TTS system pullout with interrupted cuts or shell mills.

It has nothing to do with how tight. Its the fact that an R8 is only a single taper/cut collet. Most collet based tool holders in the CNC world are double taper/cut collets such as ER, errikson DA, or TG collets. There are a few single taper, double cut collets. But they allow the collet to conform and grip the tool shank much more evenly unlike an r8 that is just up at the nose. Also the contact patch of the collet in the spindle is distorted when tightened and looses its contact area with the spindle itself vs a solid R8 shanked tool.

Here is a video that shows contact area of a collet about 2.40 min time frame on a tts collet.

 

[CapriMikeC]

It might help to know what materials you intend to machine and the size of the projects. To remove large amounts of material in tougher metals like steels, the carbide insert tools can be less expensive over time compared to solid tools. For very occasional use, the high speed steel (HSS) cutters work well and are pretty forgiving. Solid carbide tools can chip easily if used incorrectly.

"Mill" isn't too specific. Is this a Bridgeport style knee mill?

For tools, you might look at local auctions and Craigslist ads. Depending on where you are, a local tool rep might have "samples" taking up space that he'd be happy to get rid of.

 

[dr_clyde]

A CNC running a R8 spindle is a very different animal than a manual machine. A CNC is capable of pushing a cutter and collet system to its limits and create scenarios where a cutter may pull out where it would be very hard to do in manual operation.

There’s a reason CNCs worth owning don’t use an R8 spindle. I wouldn’t look at Tormach as an example of what to right. It’s pretty well known in the machine tool world that Tormachs are a joke.

I’m not saying it can’t happen, or that it’s not possible. I’m just saying it’s rare and not something I would be concerned with for 95% of manual mill work.

It’s bad advice to recommend not using R8s for general mill work on a Bridgeport style machine. If they didn’t work for manual milling, they would have changed the taper decades ago.

I own a machine shop and have plenty of experience on both manual and CNC mills. My Bridgeport mills have never had any issues holding milling cutters in an R8 collet.

If you push a machine to its limits, you’ll find the weak points. The R8 spindle has always been the weak point for Bridgeport mills. But for the work they were designed to do, the R8 is sufficient for holding cutters within the size range it’s made to hold. Obviously you’re going to have problems if you try to run large cutters at high rpm at speeds and feeds outside of the machines designed limits. An end mill holder will have a much better shot at a rigid setup if you’re running the ragged edge on a Bridgeport.

But a 1/2” two flute or 3/8” 4 flute or whatever? R8 is not only fine, it’s better than a Weldon.

 

[Firebrick43]

A CNC running a R8 spindle is a very different animal than a manual machine. A CNC is capable of pushing a cutter and collet system to its limits and create scenarios where a cutter may pull out where it would be very hard to do in manual operation.

There’s a reason CNCs worth owning don’t use an R8 spindle. I wouldn’t look at Tormach as an example of what to right. It’s pretty well known in the machine tool world that Tormachs are a joke.

I’m not saying it can’t happen, or that it’s not possible. I’m just saying it’s rare and not something I would be concerned with for 95% of manual mill work.

It’s bad advice to recommend not using R8s for general mill work on a Bridgeport style machine. If they didn’t work for manual milling, they would have changed the taper decades ago.

I own a machine shop and have plenty of experience on both manual and CNC mills. My Bridgeport mills have never had any issues holding milling cutters in an R8 collet.

If you push a machine to its limits, you’ll find the weak points. The R8 spindle has always been the weak point for Bridgeport mills. But for the work they were designed to do, the R8 is sufficient for holding cutters within the size range it’s made to hold. Obviously you’re going to have problems if you try to run large cutters at high rpm at speeds and feeds outside of the machines designed limits. An end mill holder will have a much better shot at a rigid setup if you’re running the ragged edge on a Bridgeport.

But a 1/2” two flute or 3/8” 4 flute or whatever? R8 is not only fine, it’s better than a Weldon.

The tormach TTS is being used by a lot of people other than on tormach machines. Yes the tormach machines are a joke, but its still R8 and the video shows the distortion. TTS is not a bad set up for a bridgeport doing a lot of drilling, reaming, tapping as tool changes are quick and positive. 3/8 endmills work well as well, but again, larger endmills or roughing endmills give it the same problem as its just a slightly modified 3/4" collet, nothing more. People trying to use face mills on a tts collet is a total joke.

The machines that I was personally mentioning were R8 were bridgeports in the toolroom, the CAT 40 and 50 tapers were obviously much larger and CNC production machines. They had some erikson 30 quickchange spindled bridgeports as well with 2 axis CNC lite

Again, I don't care if you belive me or not. Do a google Foo search of practical machinist.

 

[Grant Gunderson]

I have also had endmilks pull out if R8 collets on my Bridgeport. I bought an ER collet set and haven’t had it happen cone. Worth the $ Imop.

 

[dr_clyde]

Again, I’m not saying it can’t or won’t happen.

I’m saying it’s not likely to happen under normal working conditions and it’s silly to just wholesale write off using an R8 to hold an endmill because it doesn’t work in 100% of scenarios.

Like most things, user discretion and thinking is required. Use the right setup and tooling for the job. Some jobs need an end mill holder. Some use the R8. Some require another machine altogether.

 

[American Locomotive]

I know a lot of machinists, and worked in a shop that had over a dozen million dollar CNC machines, and probably another dozen approaching $3 Million. The same shop also had a ton of manual Bridgeports, and machinists ranging from 20 years old to 60+. The CNC stuff all ran ER or shrink-fit collets, so they understood proper work holding. But the Bridgeports were all R8. Not a single person there ever mentioned endmills pulling out of R8 collets.

Hundreds of thousands (maybe even millions?) of R8 machines exist in the world, and have sucessfully held endmills directly in their collets for nearly a century. Tens of thousands of hobbysist home machinists use R8 collets holding endmills every day. I've personally have spent quite a bit of time on a Bridgeport, doing things I shouldn't have, and have never had an endmill (HSS or Carbide) pull out of the collet.

I'm not saying it can't happen, as I'm well aware of the limitation of the R8. But we're not talking about a 10 HP CNC running an R8 in a production environment - we're talking about a 3/4 HP manual Bridgeport, in a home shop. It's silly to suggest a hobbyist, who is just getting started, who already has a complete set of R8 collets to go out and buy another complete set of Weldon or ER endmill holders. People have been milling with R8 for a century. It's perfectly fine for what the vast majority of home users do.

As others mentioned, look through the industrial supply places. MSC, KBC tools, etc... buy the endmills individually. Avoid the cheap chinese HSS endmill sets in wooden boxes. They will cause you nothing but grief.

A buddy of mine gets old carbide endmills from a local machine shop. They change them out when they get slightly worn (or at the end of a job), but have tons of life left for hobby use.

 

[txvwnut]

Here’s my two cents to this. Get one of the basics sets from one of the above mentioned tool suppliers and as you kill one end mill replace it with a better quality. It’s better to hone your craft on the affordable side of the game then jumping right into the deep end of pocket book. If you have minimal experience you’ll find that setup and work holding are 90% of it the rest is just luck, experience and maybe magic.

 

[Firebrick43]

I know a lot of machinists, and worked in a shop that had over a dozen million dollar CNC machines, and probably another dozen approaching $3 Million. The same shop also had a ton of manual Bridgeports, and machinists ranging from 20 years old to 60+. The CNC stuff all ran ER or shrink-fit collets, so they understood proper work holding. But the Bridgeports were all R8. Not a single person there ever mentioned endmills pulling out of R8 collets.

Lol, attempting some kind of machine shop sword fight?

Hundreds of thousands (maybe even millions?) of R8 machines exist in the world, and have sucessfully held endmills directly in their collets for nearly a century. Tens of thousands of hobbysist home machinists use R8 collets holding endmills every day. I've personally have spent quite a bit of time on a Bridgeport, doing things I shouldn't have, and have never had an endmill (HSS or Carbide) pull out of the collet.

Yet Bridgeport advertised endmill holders at the top of the accessory section of the mills sales lit when apparently they were unnecessary? Baffling?

I'm not saying it can't happen, as I'm well aware of the limitation of the R8. But we're not talking about a 10 HP CNC running an R8 in a production environment - we're talking about a 0.75HP manual Bridgeport, in a home shop.

I am unaware of 3/4hp Bridgeport’s. M heads were 1/2 and didn’t have r8 taper.

J heads 1hp or later 1.5hp.

2j were typically 1.5hp and later one along with the 2j2 were 2 hp. Series 2 were 3hp or 4hp

It's insane to suggest a hobbyist, who is just getting started, who already has a complete set of R8 collets to go out and buy another complete set of Weldon or ER endmill holders. People have been milling with R8 for a century.

I guess you like to exaggerate, a century? I guess what’s 25 years or so. The C and the M heads were normally MT2 or B&S#7 but there were a few other tapers. The J head introduced the R8 taper in 1949. R heads had r8 as well but didn’t have a quill and we’re not common.

It's perfectly fine for what the vast majority of home users do.

Vast majority of milling can be handled by 3 holders 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4. Small diameter endmills don’t typically have the torque applied.
Only takes one endmill bing pulled out ruining a lot of work or an expensive part to cover the relatively cheap holder.

 

[American Locomotive]

Lol, attempting some kind of machine shop sword fight?

It was to establish that this was a high end shop that completely understands how important good tool holders are. Yet, their supporting millwrights all have Bridgeports (and BP clones) with R8 tapers and collets.

I am unaware of 3/4hp Bridgeport’s. M heads were 1/2 and didn’t have r8 taper.

I guess you like to exaggerate, a century? I guess what’s 25 years or so. The C and the M heads were normally MT2 or B&S#7 but there were a few other tapers. The J head introduced the R8 taper in 1949. R heads had r8 as well but didn’t have a quill and we’re not common.

Bridgeports were indeed available with 3/4HP motors, and the R-Head introduced the R8 taper well before 1949. Either way, you're trying to discredit my point by arguing about minor, irrelevant details. The difference between 0.75 and 1HP doesn't matter. The R8 taper being used successfully for "only" 80 years vs. 100 years doesn't matter, and doesn't materially change the point.

The point still stands. The R8 taper, and R8 collets have been used around the world, by hundreds of thousands of machinists, to successfully make parts for nearly 100 years.

Only takes one endmill bing pulled out ruining a lot of work or an expensive part to cover the relatively cheap holder.

Context. Context. Context. He's a newbie that uses his mill for small DIY projects. He's going to ruin more parts by accidentally turning the wheels the wrong way, than he ever will from an end-mill pulling out. If he gets to the point where he's trying to make money, or regularly using big end mills and really hogging metal on parts that matter, then he can upgrade his tool holding.

Until then, he just needs to buy a set of end mills and learn.

 

[Firebrick43]

LoL, millwrights, seriously? They fix the heavy stuff like pumps, motors, conveyors and move the machines, nothing precision. They teach them to turn a shaft to diameter on the end, mill a keyway in a shaft and broach one in a pulley or sprocket. That is their test for the apprenticeship. Their mills and drill presses have the vices and tables full of divots and slots from not paying attention in every shop I have been in. No wonder you have seen collets used.

The toolmakers at the Cat plant I worked were amazing in accuracy, and if one of the machine repairman tried to use them without endmill holders they were warned, a second time their privileges to use the nice machines revoked and to the millwright heaps they had to go. Also, 3 million is not a very big CNC machine, maybe cover the cost of the toolchanger in a portal.

Its 73 years, not 80 or 100. 27 years earlier the world was completely different, and 70-85 million more people were alive. Machines were radically different, both in the machine shop, on land, air and sea. The world completely changed but meh, its immaterial to you. History, facts, figures, and specifications, meh, who cares. And then you repeat the 100 year lie, as if it will become true?

Good bridgeport reference

and

Vintage brigeport catolog

People can see for themselves the lack of veracity

I would love to see a piece of lit with 3/4hp on a Bridgeport, some how I doubt I will.

context is that even a hobbyist machines motorcycle parts, car parts, or even guns. Many time these parts are expensive and not necessary simple. One of the best machinist I have ever met was an amateur. He had machined several working model engine including a 7 cylinder radial, some v8's, a Harley vtwin. Even machine a miniature replica of a 1922 tracked wheel ditching machine that the motor, drove a multispeed transmission that changed gears, and the winches even worked to lift and lower the bucket wheel.

He had worked expensively on his flathead V8 block and an endmill slipping scrapped 50 plus hours of work. End mill holders are under 25 dollars a piece for a decent import quality. Or 60 bucks for an ER32 chuck and 12 dollars per size of ER32 collet.

 

[MushCreek]

I've been machining for nearly 50 years. I've seen end mills pull out of an R8, but usually it's because it wasn't tightened enough. The roughing end mills will tend to pull out, though. If I'm hogging a slot with a 3/4" rougher, yeah, I prefer a holder.

As far as what end mills to buy, it depends on the jobs you're doing, and the materials you're cutting. I mostly worked with tool steels, which are a lot rougher on end mills than low carbon steel or non-ferrous materials. Inserted carbide is nice if you can afford it. I have a nice 3" face mill, and 1" inserted end mill. I have a bunch of 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, and 3/4" in HSS. I have a lot of regrinds, which are handy for in between sizes. Most of my cutters are left over from when I had my own shop.

 

[American Locomotive]

LoL, millwrights, seriously?

Millwright is a generic term that means anyone who supports a factory and its equipment. The millwrights in this shop made high precision parts to keep the high-precision machines running. A union shop may have different, specific criteria for what a millwright is and what they do, but this was not a union shop.

Its 73 years, not 80 or 100. 27 years earlier the world was completely different, and 70-85 million more people were alive. Machines were radically different, both in the machine shop, on land, air and sea. The world completely changed but meh, its immaterial to you. History, facts, figures, and specifications, meh, who cares. And then you repeat the 100 year lie, as if it will become true?

Because it is immaterial. We're not having a discussion about the history of Bridgeport or the chronology of machining innovations. We're talking about the R8 collet being used to machine millions of parts successfully, for a very long time. 73, 80, 100 - it doesn't change the point at all. Those are all "a very long time" by any standard. What you're doing is equivalent to me saying "I have a 10 minute commute to work" and then you replying "Well actually, your commute is only 7.3 minutes, so therefore your entire point about your commute being of moderate length is completely wrong",

context is that even a hobbyist machines motorcycle parts, car parts, or even guns.

The OP said he does "general DIY projects", has a single 1/2" endmill, and made no mention of ever having trouble with it slipping. Let him get a set of endmills in a variety of sizes, experiment, and then he can determine whether or not the stuff he is doing will result in slippage. If he had no tooling at all - sure, get the holders. But he already has a complete set of collets that have been serving him well.

I would love to see a piece of lit with 3/4hp on a Bridgeport, some how I doubt I will.

 

[GophersGarage]

Millwright is a generic term that means anyone who supports a factory and its equipment. The millwrights in this shop made high precision parts to keep the high-precision machines running. A union shop may have different, specific criteria for what a millwright is and what they do, but this was not a union shop.

Because it is immaterial. We're not having a discussion about the history of Bridgeport or the chronology of machining innovations. We're talking about the R8 collet being used to machine millions of parts successfully, for a very long time. 73, 80, 100 - it doesn't change the point at all. Those are all "a very long time" by any standard. What you're doing is equivalent to me saying "I have a 10 minute commute to work" and then you replying "Well actually, your commute is only 7.3 minutes, so therefore your entire point about your commute being of moderate length is completely wrong",

The OP said he does "general DIY projects", has a single 1/2" endmill, and made no mention of ever having trouble with it slipping. Let him get a set of endmills in a variety of sizes, experiment, and then he can determine whether or not the stuff he is doing will result in slippage. If he had no tooling at all - sure, get the holders. But he already has a complete set of collets that have been serving him well.

Thanks to all for the info guys huge help. Since I am just messing around with at home projects I am not looking to get industrial grade items that will see very little use.

My Mill is a Craftex 30 230v that I bought brand new from a machine shop that didn't use it. They gave me a nice set of R8 collets with custom stand which was super cool to have. I have 1 end mill which looks to me 2 flute HSS 1/2" which has been great I use it all the time for all kinds of projects with zero issues. The other day I needed smaller end mill which is why I like to collect a 10 pc set to give me more options. Here is a picture of DIY projects I deal with. Basic metal, basic aluminum and plastic work.

 

[CapriMikeC]

Stick with the R8 collets. If you find over time they are limiting you, then investigate alternate holding.

As suggested, resist the cheap no-name sets on eBay and Amazon.

Also, don't get pulled into the marketing from the big guys about coatings. Many of the coatings are specific for workpiece material and may only be effective at high cutting temperatures. Most cutter companies have good reading areas with a wealth of info. Harvey for example.

Large distributors like MSC and PTSolutions often have their own "economy" lines which are made in the USA by smaller grinding shops. Those large distributors are good places to shop but they are terrible places to purchase from unless you're spending enough to get steep discounts. At my employer, we spend over $100k each month on cutters so we get a lot of stuff at 60% less than the published price.

 

[liliysdad]

I buy used carbide end mills by the pound on eBay. They are used by production standards, but will last forever for my needs.

I don't have R8s, m Clausing uses an MT2 spindle and I have an ER32 collet setup in that.

 

[Jswain]

OP: I'm looking for some endmills

GJ: F that, this thread is gonna be an argument about collets

 

[GophersGarage]

OP: I'm looking for some endmills

GJ: F that, this thread is gonna be an argument about collets

lol its all good. I think the best way to solve the collet issue is for me to pick one size end mill and just weld it to the machine.

 

[Jswain]

lol its all good. I think the best way to solve the collet issue is for me to pick one size end mill and just weld it to the machine.

We haven't decided if the machine is adequate yet tho...

 

[liliysdad]

lol its all good. I think the best way to solve the collet issue is for me to pick one size end mill and just weld it to the machine.

Weld it? What kind of lazy bum are you? You really ought to machine a new spindle from carbide, and cut the the end to the mill profile you want. Don't half *** it.

 

[GophersGarage]

Well said good point

 

[Jswain]

Here’s my two cents to this. Get one of the basics sets from one of the above mentioned tool suppliers and as you kill one end mill replace it with a better quality. It’s better to hone your craft on the affordable side of the game then jumping right into the deep end of pocket book. If you have minimal experience you’ll find that setup and work holding are 90% of it the rest is just luck, experience and maybe magic.

I think this is the best advice in the thread

 

[ER70S-2]

Also search facebook and craigslist for deals. I have bought hundreds of end mills for next to nothing and am set for life.

 

[GophersGarage]

I found this basic set I think fair priced for basic quality to test out.

 

[Shoreline_]

We have a Bridgeport type machine in the back the owner uses to mess with things. I've watched him work with it. I don't know how you machinist do it. Everything is so tedious. I can build engines, transmissions, and rear ends but I can't sit there and remove little bits of metal all evening to make something from nothing lol. Hats off.

 

[gearhead1]

When I had transfer machining lines at work, we used a lot of Sandvik, Walter, Seco, Guhring, OSG, and some Iscar. We used Hartland Tool for some specialty drill bits. That stuff is expensive, but good quality for production use.

At home I used Enco for most things until MSC bought them. Then the prices shot up. Now I use Shars, Travers, and Penntool. Shars mostly.

 

[wyo george]

At work I run solid carbide for endmills and on larger stuff I use indexable (insert style) feed and shoulder mills depending on the job. On a weekly basis I run as small as 1/8" endmill up to 8" shoulder/facing mills and drills between 1/2" and 3" diameter. Any drill over 1/2" is indexable carbide. Sharpening drill bits isn't worth it when time is a factor.

Most of my endmills are Accupro, although some are custom ground from an outfit in Colorado (forget the name off hand). Insert tools are a variety of Sandvik, ZCC and ISCAR with a few Komet and Hitachi thrown in on the drill bits. Sources are MSC, Carbide Depot and I've found some amazing deals on name brand stuff from ebay.

 

[rsanter]

Honestly, the first thing I would do is buy a cheap set in the box. You can get great deals on those and it gives you all the sizes.
Learn to use the machine and start working from there.

Then start to buy non Chinese ones that are your most common used size.

You may also want to buy a couple roughing mills for when you just need to hog material and not worry about finish (you finish with a regular mill)

I would also buy a set of insert mill heads that have the replaceable carbide inserts, those work great for select jobs

See if there is a local machine shop/machine supply place around you that goes to auctions and buys, they often have a ton of end mills/cutters that can be bought for cheap.
You need to inspect them, some are trash and some are like new.
Also some will he been resharpened so they are not the size they claim to be. I often use these like roughing mills when I just need to hog material and then do my finish cuts with a better bit.


You need a good chuck for that machine, and you also need a set of good drill bits that will only be used in the mill

 

[GophersGarage]

Thanks to all for the info big help.

One last thing to ask. Do I stick with 2 flute or 4?
the 2 flute I currently have has been just fine for my type of projects.

 

[wyo george]

Thanks to all for the info big help.

One last thing to ask. Do I stick with 2 flute or 4?
the 2 flute I currently have has been just fine for my type of projects.

I rarely ever use a 2 flute mill. Mostly I use 4 flute although for some jobs it's as much as 7 flutes.

2 flute is good for softer materials, like aluminum.

 

[F-22]

For my hobby needs, I ordered a few different endmills from aliexpress and... well, they work for my needs.

I have an adapter to the ER32 collet set. That was probably the best investment in my mill, besides the DRO.

 

[2oolhound]

I assume you are talking about R8 collets? If so you really shouldn't use them for holding endmills. Get some weldon end mill holders. The screw, with weldon shank endmills will not let them pull out. Nothing ***** more than to realize that your works ruined because the endmill pulled out.

What a co-incidence. I just watched a Mr. Pete 222 video on youtube where he warned about this exact thing and recomended weldon holders. I watched it on my big screen so I'm not sure if I can find the link. He was getting ready to rebuild a mill and the table had 3 gouges from an end mill slipping and cutting into the table at some point in the mill's life. This resonated with me because I had this happen on my RF 30 mill drill and ruined a 6" bar I was turning into T-nuts. (I'm real green at machining so wtfdik but if I can find the link I'll post it here.

I went to a close out sale of a shop that was being moved to guess where ...yeah, china. I bought over 50 mostly new end mills from 1/8" to 3/4" for around $30! and that was 2 years before I even bought my mill drill so now I'm so glad to have them. You should keep an eye out on ebay and local sales for a deal like I and others here have gotten.

 

[HenryAZ]

I have an adapter to the ER32 collet set. That was probably the best investment in my mill, besides the DRO.

I have an ER32 collet set, and an R8 ER32 collet chuck. I use that set for just about everything. The ER collets grab along the entire length of the collet, not just at the end.