Getting a BIT Anxious

I received the tiny 3/32 inch milling bits from Bits and Bits last night. Normal machine suppliers do not stock these small size end mills. I bought two. They are solid carbide double flute flat bottom. They also have a 3/4 inch cutting length which I needed to cut the 0.505 inch overall cutting depth on the heat sinks. Most small bits only have about 3X their diameter for their OCL (Overall Cutting Length). The holder diameter is 1/8 inch.

I am figuring a 0.001chip load and will spin them at 10K RPM. That will give me a 20 IPM feed, I only need the small bits to do the fin cuts. But, I dislike tool changes on small projects so I will see if I can do the entire job with these bits. I will be using mist cooling so the tool life in aluminum should be great. Looks like about 90 minutes per side.

I have a trip scheduled next week so this will probably be put off for awhile. (It IS a hobby after all…) 🙂