What Is Face Milling and Why Should You Bother?

When it comes to machining, there are always a bunch of ways to do the same cut. Ask five machinists how to do a specific operation, and you&#;re bound to get eight different answers. Face milling is no different. When you&#;re looking to get a precisely-flat surface or you want a finish that really makes your part shine (literally and/or figuratively), the process of face milling can help you get there. The most common tool used when machining is an end mill. Typically, the process of cutting with an end mill utilizes both the end of the cutter, as well as the sides, which allows for pocketing and ramped cutting procedures. Face milling, in general, is defined as the process of cutting surfaces that are perpendicular to the cutter axis, or the faces of a part. Shell mills and fly cutters are most often used for face milling, but depending on what kind of surface finish you&#;re looking for, you could use an end mill as well.

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End Mills

Using an end mill to do face milling is often inefficient, but can create some appealing patterns in your finish, if that&#;s what you&#;re after. An end mill often comes to a sharp point at one corner and the bottom edge is usually at a 1° angle as it goes to the center, so it doesn&#;t overlap with the previous pass. This can create some intricate patterns and surface finishes that would be hard to find elsewhere.

Shell Mills

If you&#;re looking for a consistent finish, a shell mill is a good choice. Shell mills are also known as face mills, so they are well-known for quality face milling operations. Shell mills have several inserts on the outer edge of the cutter, so when the cutter first hits the material, it removes a small amount of stock &#; depending on your depth of cut. As the cutter passes over the workpiece, the other teeth actually work to remove stock that was left as a bur or as a result of the springing of the workpiece or cutter. So long as all the inserts on your shell mill are level and worn evenly, this creates a high-quality surface finish. Shell mills are also well-suited for most all materials. There may be an occasional need for the swapping of inserts for different materials, but the tool itself is robust enough to handle most all materials. While it can be considered an advantage to have multiple cutting teeth on a shell mill, having all those inserts has the potential to cause more headaches. Varying heights and subtle differences in geometries can cause varying chipload among the inserts. This won&#;t translate well to you surface finish

Flycutters

Shell mills provide quality surface finishes at higher speeds, while a flycutter can create a much finer finish with less horsepower. To that end, a fly cutter only uses one insert, which, while slower, can provide a more uniform surface finish. Read: The Science of Face Milling with a Flycutter If you&#;re looking to get fantastic surface finishes and speed per operation isn&#;t as much a factor, you can pick up the TTS Superfly cutter stocked with inserts for both softer materials (like aluminum) and harder materials (like steel) for less than $150.

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Tips for Face Milling