Serrations along the cutting edge act as chip breakers, so these end mills can remove large amounts of material at high speeds. With better heat and wear resistance than high-speed steel, these cobalt steel end mills can run at higher speeds and provide better performance on hard material, such as iron, hardened steel, titanium, and tool steel. Their square end makes them good for milling square slots and edges. All are noncenter-cutting for operations where the peripheral teeth do most of the work, such as shoulder milling, contouring, and finishing. They cannot be used for plunge cuts.

End mills with fewer flutes provide better chip clearance for high-volume, high-speed plunge, slotting, and roughing cuts; end mills with more flutes provide a finer finish and operate with less vibration when run at high speeds.

Use uncoated end mills for general purpose milling and short production runs. Use coated end mills for demanding, high-speed jobs in hard material as well as for longer production runs. They’re more wear resistant than uncoated end mills. Titanium-carbonitride (TiCN) coated end mills have a hard, smooth finish that resists chipping and wear and prevents material from accumulating on the cutting edge. They’re especially good for use in aluminum.

Flute pitch indicates the size of the serrations on a roughing end mill. Coarse-pitch end mills create large chips for better performance on softer metal, such as aluminum, brass, bronze, and carbon steel. Fine-pitch end mills last longer than coarse-pitch end mills and produce smaller chips for better performance on harder metal, such as iron, hardened steel, titanium, and tool steel.

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