A cutting tool can be defined simply as a tool designed to cut material or objects. Thus, a cutting tool can be an ax, drill, knife, saw, scissors, and more. A metalworking cutting tool refers to a type of cutting tool used and designed specifically for the purpose of metalwork. A few metalwork cutting tool examples are an alligator shear, end mill, reamer, counterbore, countersink, and a drill bit. Any cut tool that can remove metal from the work piece by shear deformation is a metalwork cutting tool.
For a long metalworking performance, a cutting tool has to be made of a material that is harder than the material that is to be cut. Also, the cutting tool needs to be able to withstand the heat generated from the metal cutting process. The geometry of a cutting tool must be specific. The cutting edge needs to be able to contact the work piece without the rest of the tool dragging on the work piece’s surface.
Also important are a cutting tool’s flute width, the tool margin, the material it’s made out of, and the angle of the cutting face.
One particular type of cutting tool to note is the end mill. It is the most commonly used tool in a vertical mill. Though it was previously constructed out of high speed steel, most end mills are now made out of carbide. This carbide cutting tool, sometimes referred to as a carbide milling cutter, is resistant to wear and friction. To further make it resistant to wear and friction, it is sometimes coated with a chemical composition.
An end mill has cutting teeth at its end and on its side. Generally, it can cut in all directions, though certain kinds of end mills cannot cut axially. A cutting tool called a drill bit, which is sometimes mistaken for an end mill, is used instead for axial cutting. Depending on the material being milled, different types of end mills are used. For example, carbide milling would require a different end mill with a different geometry than milling machine aluminum. End mills are used for such milling applications as profile milling, tracer milling, face milling, plunging, and more.
Drill bits, on the other hand, are used to cut cylindrical holes. Held, rotated, and given axial force by a drill, the bits create the holes. If a non-cylindrical hole is needed, then a specialized bit can be used.
The twist drill bit is the mostly commonly used today. Due to its geometry and the sharpening of its cutting edges being so important to the bit’s performance, special grinding bits are available. These sharpen or reshape cutting surfaces on twist drills to optimize the drill for a particular material.
In fact, geometry and application are also important for end mills and all other types of cutting tools. The material that needs to be worked on and what exactly the end result needs to be will determine whether an end mill, drill bit, or other cutting tool is required for the job.
