Milling tools are often made of various materials. With the commonest being the cobalt-bearing tools, the cemented carbide tools and the High Speed Steel (HSS) tools. Despite the HSS tools being the commonest and the cheapest, they have a short life. On the other hand, the cobalt bearing tools are well positioned for high speed operations. This makes them operate faster than their HSS counterparts. Lastly, the cemented carbide tools are long lasting but have extra long life. They therefore tend to be more long lasting when considered over time.
Milling tools also differ in the diameters. Thus, a particular tool should be chosen if its diameter best suits the nature of the assignment it’s intended to be used in undertaking. It should also be noted that larger tools are more efficient as they remove larger material. Thus, the tool selected for a given assignment should have the most suitable diameter that best suits the desired holes to be created.
Next, milling tools come with varying number flutes. This makes the tools with higher number of flutes be more efficient in drilling the holes as the amount of material removed per cut is higher as opposed to those with a small number of flutes. Consequently, it should be noted that the higher the number of the flutes, the larger the diameter of the holes drilled and hence the lower the swarf space underneath it.
In enhancing the efficiency of the tool, various coating materials are used. Titanium nitride being the commonest coating offers a non-sticking advantage of the tool. In this regard, it prevents aluminum from sticking ion the tool in the cutting. However, the coated tools are higher in price hence one should consider having a perfect tradeoff between the two.