CNC End Mills - vendors and recommendations

General lounge
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Hi:

I am looking to purchase some CNC End Mills to mill hardwoods and plastics (no metal).

Does anyone have recommendations for vendors (local or online) and/or mill brands

I’m currently looking at buying online from Onsrud but thought I’d ask around before placing an order.

Cheers

Mark

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It really depends on your needs - do you want high-quality, long-lasting end mills, or will you be learning and expect to break them frequently? Do you want to get a selection, or just a few specific ones?

Grizzly and AliExpress have plenty of options. You can of course buy locally at KMS Tools in Coquitlam or Busy Bee in New West, but your options will be far more limited.

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A reminder that we have an account at KMS Tools (I think that’s right)

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I cut metal for a living, and won’t touch those vendors. For hard woods you may be able to get away with router bits. I use Lee Valley Roundover bits in Aluminum. Plastic cutters need to have a really keen edge, so some cheap brands will tend to push up a big burr and they try to lob the material off rather than shearing it.

You can get good High Speed Steel endmills from places like ACT Equipment, Thomas Skinner and Sons, and Technicut Supply.

If you have an account with McMaster-Carr, their cutting tool products are good as well with quick delivery.

Onsrud specialises in router type cutters, but I’ve never purchased their cutting tools, as I don’t really do Wood or plastics exclusively.

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Oh wow, it looks like McMaster-Carr have FINALLY changed their policy, and will ship to Canada (and the rest of the world) for even new accounts.

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I may have gotten a code because I have an incorporated Company. I know of a few who haven’t been able to get an account. try it and see if they will ship to you. Be aware though that some of their aluminum extrusions have tariff issues with coming in to Canada, so they won’t bother shipping them out. Ask me how I know. Ha ha!

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++1 plastic cutting SHARP tool, burring plastic is melted plastic welding the cutting tool to the plastic

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Thanks all for your responses.

I’m a newbie atm so I expect I’ll breaking a few to start however I do want high quality long lasting end mills. Will be looking at carbide mills with some form of coating eventually.

I’ll be doing all my cutting on a [Shopbot][1] so I’m guessing that [edited to remove router reference] “END MILL” type cutters is what I am looking for. Seems like a few people on the SB forums are recommending Onsrud so I’m going to start with them first.

Cheers

Mark
[1]: PRSstandard CNC | ShopBot Tools | Production Ready

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PreciseBits endmills are all i use for my sizes < 3mm, I buy them from Jeff at http://www.soigeneris.com/

http://precisebits.com/

Dont ever use a router bit/flat side cutter in a cnc router/mill. They cant clear chips, so the bit gets hot - but worse, if you plunge with them you can create a little puck of wood under the centre of the bit, which gets spun around very fast - this will eventually turn into a little ember that will either get left behind when the bit gets raised, or get spat out into the uncleared swarf. You may have noticed that swarf looks an awful lot like tinder, and that little ember just got shot into it with lots of airflow from the spinning endmill. My experience is 5-10% of the time you use a flat blade router bit doing mortices or deep pockets/slots you’ll get a fire. Ramped plunges can help, but are no guarantee - ONLY USE FLUTED ENDMILLS! Your bit will also run much cooler with a fluted endmill, as you can actually get the swarf (your coolant!) out.

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My test McMaster-Carr order arrived! *squees*

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