Straight flute end milling cutters

[jonathan heppelParticipant @jonathanheppel43280]

They have their uses, particularly resisting "dig in" but now seem to be obsolete to the extent of only old stock being still available. Can anyone shed any light on this?

[jonathan heppelParticipant @jonathanheppel43280]

[julian atkinsParticipant @julianatkins58923]

i use them all the time – they are in effect a superior 'D' bit. no idea why they are as you say 'obsolete' though ive no idea if this is actually the case

cheers,

julian

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

What about wood router bits? Typically straight flute and nowadays probably just as tough material at least for non ferrous use.

As with drills when someone invented a cheap way of making them with spiral flutes the straight version became 'old hat' even if it had advantages for some applications. For milling cutters the Clarkson screwed shank removed the problem of pull out. So now you need a process that needs tens of thousands to justify making something less universally usefull.

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

I was amazed how quickly oak took the edge off milling cutters. I was making a big CD rack out of 1" oak planks and half housing all the joints (64 cuts 1" x 4" ). The flutes were blunt after the first 20 or 30 joints.

[jonathan heppelParticipant @jonathanheppel43280]

By "dig in" I meant more workpiece lift rather than cutter drop in marginal workholding situations. However, since you can achieve the same effect by grinding zero or negative rake on the edges of helical cutters and as you say, Bazyle, they probably cost the same, then why bother especially since chip clearance cannot be as good.

Er, I think I've just answered my own question. Oh dear, embarrassment.

Thanks guys for helping me think it through.

[Author]

Posts