Endmill

An endmill is a milling cutter used in milling machines and machining centers to remove material from a workpiece. It features cutting edges on the end face and along the periphery, allowing both plunging and side milling. End mills are used for contouring, slotting, pocketing, and profiling in metals, plastics, wood, and composites.

End mills vary in geometry and configuration. Commonly they have two, three, or four flutes; higher flute counts provide a smoother finish and greater strength but poorer chip evacuation. Center-cutting end mills can plunge into material; non-center-cut tools cannot. Helix angle and rake influence cutting action, chip evacuation, and tool life.

Materials and coatings: The tool bodies are typically high-speed steel (HSS) or carbide, with carbide preferred for high-speed and hard materials. Specialty variants exist in cobalt HSS, ceramics, and synthetic diamond or cubic boron nitride. Coatings such as TiN, TiAlN, and AlTiN improve hardness and heat resistance.

Applications and selection: Choose geometry, flute count, diameter, and length based on work material, required finish, depth of cut, and coolant use. Common practices include using up-cut tools for materials that require efficient chip evacuation and down-cut or compression tools for surface finish in plastics or laminated composites. Proper speeds, feeds, and tool maintenance extend life.