Milling Cutters and Tools

CNC machining is a highly utilised subtractive manufacturing technology. Computer numerical control systems offer less need for manpower and higher levels of automation.

One of these automated fabrication methods is CNC milling. It is a process where rotary cutters remove material, which makes it the opposite of CNC turning.

The milling centres do not just perform the cutting automatically, but also the changing of tools. During the average process of creating a finished product from a block of metal, for example, various tools are used.

What Are the Types of Milling Cutters?

The most common types of milling cutters are:

• End mill

• Face mill

• Ball cutter

• Slab mill

• Side-and-face cutter

• Involute gear cutter

• Fly cutter

• Hollow mill

• Shell mill

• Roughing end mill

• Dovetail cutter

• Wood ruff cutter

First, we should start with one of the primary questions.

What is the difference between end milling and face milling?

These are two of the most prevalent milling operations, each using different types of cutters – the and mill and the face mill. The difference between end milling and face milling is that an end mill uses both the end and the sides of the cutter, whereas face milling is used for horizontal cutting.