Mill end in woodshop

End mills? 

Re: End mills?

Jerry Gibbs

Probably end mills. I think mill ends is yarn. Obviously I’m not a machinist.

Routing and mortising

Ellis Walentine

End mills can be used in routers instead of spiral cutters, assuming you have the appropriate collet to make them fit your router arbor. If you have up-cut and down-cut bits, be sure you're protecting yourself from unexpected stock seize-ups.

You can also use them in your drill press for free handing mortising and slotting, but be sure to have hold-downs and fencing, particularly with up-cut bits.

A big advantage of end mills is that they are ground all the way to the center, so you can plunge with them. I still recommend keeping the workpiece moving at least a little bit to transfer the cutting force to the wings.

FWIW, I'm an old end-mill mortising guy. We had a mortising machine with draw collets for a complete range of end mill diameters, and we did almost all our mortising on that machine -- from picture frames to driveway gates. It is a valid way to go. Be aware that tool-steel bits will dull faster than carbide, so you'll have to anticipate your burn out rate based on the woods you're routing.

Ellis

Depends on type.

Virgil Johnson

End mills come in hundreds of sizes and styles. 2 flute,4 flute,ball end, single end, double end, left hand cut,right hand cut, reverse spiral, roughers...and the list goes on. The 4 flutes will not plunge cut unless they are the center cutting type. I would not recommend using an end mill in a drill press. The cutting action of an end mill in a drill press will be very much different than a twist drill. The margins of a twist drill keep the drill from wandering while drilling. An end mill is designed to cut on the sides and will wander badly when plunging on the light (long) spindle of a drill press causing serious chatter.Damage to the spindle and possibly the operator may occur depending on the setup.

Re: Routing and mortising

John K Jordan

I've used end mills a lot for wood, in a milling machine but not necessarily turning at high speed. A drill press with an x-y vise would help. I'd go slow since bearings in a drill press are not intended for that.

For milling wood, I like hard and dense woods which cut cleanly - for example I've made things from lignum vitae that I might have otherwise made from aluminum.

One comment, some end mills (all I've bought) are center-cutting and can plunge cut, but some are not center-cutting but good for making smooth surfaces on top and sides of the work. I think all two-flute end mills are center-cutting and some multi-flute are center-cutting.

JKJ

Re: Mill end in woodshop

John in NM

Yes, they can be useful in routers.

Generally the two flute kind are most like router bits - cutting wood you need larger flutes (ie fewer flutes) because you cut wood far more aggressively than metal and you need the larger flutes to clear the chip volume from the heavy cut. Four flute end mills will burn more and dull faster as a result.

The other thing is you generally do not use them in a drill press. If your press's jacob's chuck is fit on a jacob's taper shaft, the side load from using an end mill to cut a slot or whatever can cause the chuck to come off it's shaft. It is a rare occurrence but spectacular and dangerous when it does happen. My Chinese mortiser had this happen, though not from side loading, probably from poor cleaning at original chuck installation.

Be careful

Lee Schierer in McKean, PA

Yes, you can use some end mills in your wood shop. They can be used in a router. I would hesitate to use them in a drill press because most wood shop drill presses use jacobs taper chucks, which don't tend to like side load and vibration. Milling machines use a different type of chuck that locks into place and the head has bearings that are made for side loads.

Using the end mill for side to side cutting on a drill press can cause the bit and chuck to release from the quill without warning and drop on your work piece. It may also cause damage over time to the quill bearings.

Lee

unlikely useful

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

These are likely metal working tool. The tool geometry will not be optimum for wood and worse, if they have ever been used in metal they will be hopelessly dull for wood machining . They need to go to someone with a milling machine. They will sell readily at a large flea market.

The equivalent tools for wood are cheap.

Flutes

Ellis Walentine

Yeah, I might have mentioned that our mortiser, with those draw collets for all the different diameter end mils, was an old converted Whitney horizontal mill, that we tricked out with a Reeves drive and a thick phenolic table with these nifty hold-down clamps that aren't made anymore. We used only two-flute tool steel end mills, running at pretty slow speeds, and we kept the x axis moving while advancing the bit, so we never needed center cutter mills. The bits held up very well in our most usual timbers -- mahogany, walnut, cherry, maple -- presumably because of the slow speeds.

The few times I used a drill press for this type of work, it was only for occasional one-off jobs.

Ellis

Re: Mill end in woodshop

William Duffield

I have a ball end mill mounted on a long handle that I use on the lathe for finishing the bottom of turned deep boxes that I have roughed out with a drill bit.

In general, you can use end mills held in a Jacob's chuck on a lathe with a draw bar. Using a draw bar eliminates the problem others have warned of that you would have in a drill press with the Morse taper releasing under lateral loads.

Re: Mill end in woodshop

jessecloud

Jim nailed it. I used to do all my mortising with end mills in a router. Just turn your speed down to the slowest available.

As with most tools, take fairly shallow cuts and keep it moving steadily. I suggest making a jig to guide your router as a long mortise can exert a huge amount of torque.