Profiling

End mills and cutting tools designed for edge profiling and contour cutting. 

End mills are the cutting tools (also called router bits) that are inserted into the collet of a spindle or router. It is the part that spins and does all of the cutting in all directions. Some end mills can plunge into the material (like drilling). All end mills have the ability to cut sideways (also called profiling).

Important Formulas:
Feedrate (IPM - Inches/Min) = Spindle RPM x # of Flutes x Chip Load
See each end mill for the chip load value.

If your machine cannot achieve these feed rates, reduce the spindle RPM using this formula:
Speed (RPM) = Feed Rate (IPM) / (# of Flutes x Chip Load)

My personal favorate when cutting plastic or for quiet wood cutting. The cutting speeds can be increased when using these end mills since the chip load cavity is larger than the standard two flute end mills. Upcut end mills (router bits) will leave good finish to the bottom edge of the material but can lift thin or light material since the geometry is designed to cut in the upward direction. If thin or light material must be cut and you want a good top edge finish, consider downcut end mills

 

  • Overall length or OAL is the total length of the end mill.
  • Flutes are the portion of the end mill that does the cutting with sharp spiral or non spiral edges. Flutes can be up-cut (brings the chips up and out of the cut) or down-cut (forces the chips downward). Up-cut flutes will generally create a nice edge finish on the bottom of the material. Down-cut will create a nice top edge finish.
  • Shank is the portion of the end mill that does not have flutes and is used as the area for collet contact.
  • Most of the measurements will be shank diameter and flute diameter and flute length. Shank diameter is important in that you will need the correct collet to receive the shank. FLute diameter will create the width of the cut, or hole size.