Why does nobody talk about switching to a 4-flute endmill for aluminum?

We were running a job on our Haas VF2, milling 6061 parts, using a 3-flute endmill for years. The boss said it was 'good enough.' Last month I swapped in a 4-flute tool for a test run on the same program. The finish went from looking like a cat scratched it to almost a brushed look, and cycle time dropped by about 15 seconds per part. I think the extra flute just handled the chip load better. Has anyone else seen a jump like this just from changing flute count?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakotal1612d ago

Wait, 15 seconds faster? @grant_anderson is right, bosses hate free upgrades.

grant_anderson13d ago

The boss is always the last to know. That extra flute gives you a better core, so you can push it harder without chatter. It's a free upgrade if your machine has the rpm. We saw similar gains on our old Fadal just by switching tooling brands.