Milling cutter for face milling
Face milling is the most common of milling operations which can be performed using a variety of tools. A milling cutter that has a 45-degree entering angle is frequently used but round insert cutters, square shoulder cutters and side and face mills can also be used if required by the machining process. The 45-degree milling cutter is the choice for general purpose milling because it reduces vibrations on long overhangs and chip thinning effect allows an increase in productivity. The 90-degree cutter can also be used for thin walled components and when a 90-degree form is required. The round insert milling cutter is a general purpose cutter with a very strong cutting edge that is particularly suitable for heat resistant alloys. The side milling cutter has a cutting edge on the sides as well as on the periphery that allows it to mill slots.
High speed face milling is possible with cutters that have small entering angles or by using round insert cutters because of their chip thinning effect. Although the depth of the cut in high speed face milling is limited to less than 2mm, the extreme feed makes it a very productive milling method. The most productive of high speed face milling is through a 10-degree entering angle because it allows high feed per tooth. At a low entering angle, maximum chip thickness is dramatically reduced and allows extremely high feed rates to be used without overloading the inserts.
Milling cutters for peripheral milling
In peripheral milling, the milled surface is generated through cutting edges located on the periphery of the cutter body. The axis of the cutter rotation is usually in a plane parallel to the surface of the workpiece that is being machined. Milling cutters that are used for peripheral milling include:
- Light duty plain mill – is a general purpose cutter with straight teeth for the narrow cutter and helical teeth for the wide cutters.
- Heavy duty plain mill – are the same as light duty plain mill but it is used for higher rates of metal removal. The teeth are more widely spaced with a helix angle increased by about 45 degrees.
- Half side milling cutter – is the same as the side cutter that has a cutting edge on the sides as well as the periphery except that the cutting edge is only on one side of the half side cutter.
- Stagger tooth side mill – is also similar to side cutter except for its teeth that are staggered so that each of them can cut on the given side of the slot.