End Mills & Cutters
Last updated on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 06:12:02 PM Eastern US Time Zone

 End Mills, Radius Cutters, Saw Blades, Straight-shank Arbors, ER-16 Collet Extensions, Fly Cutters

Surface Feet/Minute (SFM) Chart 1      SFM 2      SFM 3

End Mills

Center-cutting (left) & non-center cutting (right) type end mills. Center-cutting end mills can make plunge cuts.
Non-center cutting end mills can not make plunge cuts but clear chips better & they can be resharpened easier.
End mill nomenclature.

TiN coated, 2 & 4 flute, center-cutting end mill set.

Left to right: 2-flute end mills for aluminum, ball-nose end mills,
45° & 60° dove-tail & bevel cutters, edge finders, 4-flute end mills for steel (regular & roughing).

Had to increase end mill storage.

Small diameter carbide drills (left) & small end mills.

Assorted two, three, & four flute solid carbide end mills sizes ⅜" through 1/32".

1¼", 1", ¾", ⅝", ⅝", ½", ⅜", & ⅜". The three (right) end mills are M42-8%Co alloy with extra long cutting flutes.

⅛" & ¼" diameter, center cutting, long (4) flute, Titanium Aluminum Nitride (TIALN) coated end mills.

¼", 5/16", ⅜", ½", & ⅝" roughing end mills. Sinusoidal-edge pattern breaks chips.

Two-flute ball-nose end mill. The are also 3 & 4 flute types. These cutters like higher speeds.

1/32", two-flute ball-nose carbide end mills.

Dovetail cutters; 45° (top) & 60° (bottom). Cut a square groove, first.

45° (left) & 60° (right) bevel cutters (import). For chamfering part edges.

Bin sorting & storage of end mills.

One-inch "Little Hogger" negative-rake end mill with a ¾" shank that uses two, TNMG inserts.
TNMG inserts have six usable tips, each. This end mill requires relatively high RPM.

½" cobalt end mill with 45° point. Handy for chamfering edges.

Radius Cutters

Radius cutter set. 1/16", 3/32", ⅛", 5/32", 3/16", ¼", 5/16", & ⅜" radii.


⅛", 30º carbide engraver bit.

Solid carbide engraving tools for the CNC mill. The end was first split in half with a standard surface
grinder then the tip was diamond ground to have relief behind the single-flute cutting edge. The point
was then relieved even more using a fine diamond file. See the high-speed motor pulley modification.

Saw Blades

A 45º, left-hand cutter & 3" saw blades with 1" hole having different thicknesses of 1/16", 1/32", & 1/64".
See 1-inch, R8 arbor.

Straight-shank Arbors

 Precision ground ⅞" x 1" arbor with a ¾" straight shank.

Spring-loaded rings spacers for different saw hole sizes: ½", ⅝", ¾", ⅞", & 1" (India). Below average quality.

ER-16 Collet Extensions
When changing tooling that has different lengths, e.g., a drill chuck versus a fly cutter,
I do not want to needlessly loosen/move the mill head & then have to re-indicate the piece.
 A stubby ER-16 collet extension & a short arbor drill chuck allow me to stay close to the work piece.
The long ER-16 extension allows me to use longer tooling & end mills, too.
Additionally, the long extension can get into much tighter places than the mill spindle.

ER-16 collet extension pair (US) having stubby (3.65") & long (6.3"), ¾" diameter shanks.
These are very precisely made extensions with a collet lock nut 13/16" &
there is an inside back-up hex set screw with left-hand threads that is set against the end mill base.
The Martin Tools open-end wrench is thinner, flatter & shorter than a standard type making it easier to use in tight areas.
The collet is snapped into the nut before tightening. The extensions are made by Craftsman Industries in NV.

CAUTION: Do not over tighten lock nut, always use internal backup screw. Do not tighten lock nut on an empty collet.

Stubby extension stays close to the work & can use 10 different
 ER-16 collet sizes with a 0.0197" ~ 0.3937" (0.5 ~ 10mm) continuous clamping range.
This is especially helpful when using combinations of drills & end mills.

Using a 20° angle setup on the sine vise, first spot drilled with an end mill followed by
drilling & 8-32 tapping for a cast iron, fly wheel hub set screw.

The long extension helps machine hard to access areas.

Fly Cutters

Fly cutter (Sierra American Brand, USA made) with ¾" straight shank & ⅜" USA Carboloy grade, left-hand tool bit.
This combination has superior cutting performance when compared to many imports.
It is balanced, precise & rigid plus the set screws are hardened & don't strip.


Fly cutter set with straight shanks (import). Substituting with quality set screws helps performance.


Fly cutter with a ⅜" straight shaft which is the right size for use in the upgraded ER-16 mill spindle.

 End Mills, Radius Cutters, Saw Blades, Straight-shank Arbors, ER-16 Collet Extensions, Fly Cutters