Wasted $120 on cheap end mills from Amazon...

I bought a 10-pack of 1/4 inch end mills off Amazon for $120 figuring I was saving cash. First one snapped on aluminum after 2 minutes at normal feeds. Second one chattered so bad it ruined the part. Cheap HSS coated stuff is garbage for production work. Anybody got a solid source for carbide that won't break the bank?

3 comments

3 Comments

rivera.christopher4mo ago

Honestly, I gotta push back a little on the "cheap HSS coated" thing. A lot of those Amazon packs are actually labeled as HSS but they're really just some mystery steel with a cheap TiN coating that does nothing. I've had way better luck grabbing a single, name brand 2 flute carbide end mill from a place like Lakeshore Carbide or similar for about $25. Yeah it's one tool instead of ten, but it'll cut clean through aluminum at full depth of cut without chattering or snapping, and it'll last through dozens of parts. That $120 pack is just false economy in my book.

jenkins.wade4mo ago

Man @rivera.christopher is spot on about the mystery steel thing. I grabbed one of those cheap 10 packs off Amazon thinking I scored big, and the first end mill snapped on the second pass into 6061 at like 0.050" doc. Total garbage. After that I picked up a single 1/4" two flute carbide from a brand I actually trust, and it still cuts smooth after a hundred parts. The $25 spent once beats replacing a $12 pack every week.

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patkelly3mo ago

You ever read something that makes you wonder if you've been doing it wrong the whole time? @jenkins.wade I saw a test online where a guy ran a cheap mystery end mill and a name brand one through the same aluminum block. The cheap one chattered like crazy and left a rough finish even on light cuts. The name brand cut through like butter at full depth. That pretty much matches what you're saying about the $25 single tool. I'm convinced now that those multipacks are just for people who need one emergency cut and don't care about the tool after. It's a gamble every time you load one up.