Getting the Most Out of Your Chamfer Mills
by Anthony Williams on November 01, 2019
Chamfer cutters are one of the most frequently used end mills in a machinist’s toolbox. This is because they are perfect for finishing projects and taking care of small details. Chamfering is the process of adding a flat surface as a transitional edge between two faces on an object. The most typical form of chamfering is at a 45° on a 90° corner. Though Chamfer Mills are specifically designed for adding a chamfer to your edges, they can serve many additional functions that you might not have considered.
One of the chamfer mills obvious functions is beveling an edge. Many people actually confuse a chamfer and a bevel. While a chamfer affects only the edge where your sides meet, a bevel affects an entire edge. How effective your chamfer cutter will be when beveling an edge depends on your workpiece. If the piece is thin enough, you can easily bevel the edge by orienting the tip of your chamfer mill along the bottom edge of your piece. If you are dealing with thicker material, you can achieve a bevel with multiple passes of your chamfering mill.
Deburring is another job perfectly suited to a chamfer mill. When your milling is complete, you are bound to have some stray burs left on your piece. By tracing the edges you just cut with your chamfering mill, you can avoid the time-consuming process of manually deburring your piece. You can also deburr using only a small portion of the cutting head, meaning the job can be done quickly with minimal wear to the cutter.
Another excellent way to get some more utility out of your chamfer cutters is to use them for spotting and countersinking. Long drill bits tend to have a bit of flexibility to them. This can easily cause them to wander instead of placing your hole exactly on target. By spot drilling a dimple to receive the bit, you can avoid these deflections that can easily ruin your workpiece. Once your hole is drilling, your chamfer mill can also be used to widen the top of your hole to add a countersink. Instead of using three separate tools to spot and countersink, you can get it done using only your trusty chamfering mill.
With all of these functions, it’s clear that having quality chamfer cutters on hand is crucial to getting your work done efficiently. At Online Carbide, we manufacture our solid carbide chamfer mills here in the USA. When you buy chamfer mills from us, you get the mills made to the same high standards as the major brands, but without dealing with markup from middle men. You can purchase our chamfering mills in ¼”, ?”, and ½” diameters with either 60° or 90° tip angles.
We are dedicated to making the best carbide cutting tools on the market. No matter what you need to get your next job done, you can trust Online Carbide to provide the quality milling tools your shop needs at an amazing price.