Cutter Types (Mill)

Milling cutters are cutting tools typically used in milling machines to perform milling operations and occasionally in other machine tools. They remove material by their movement within the machine or directly from the cutter's shape.

End Mills:
An endmill is a type of milling cutter, a cutting tool used in industrial milling applications. It is distinguished from the drill bit in its application, geometry, and manufacture. While a drill bit can only cut in the axial direction, a milling bit can generally cut in all directions, though some cannot cut axially. End mills are used in milling applications such as profile milling, tracer milling, face milling, and plunging.

Cutter Material Identification / Selection:
High Speed Steel (HSS) tooling is Shiny in color, and relatively light in weight. Carbide tooling is dull in color and relatively heavy compared to high speed steel. HSS is used for general purpose milling of both ferrous and non-ferrous materials. Carbide provides the user with the ability to run faster with less tool wear

centercutting and non-centercutting endmills
Milling tools are either center cutting or non-center cutting. Center cutting mills can plunge straight down into material, while non-center cutting tools cannot. Notice that the cutting edges of the center cutting end mill continues to the center of the tool. The center of the other has a small hole at the center. Non-center cutting end mills require a pilot hole, ramping or helical motion to plunge into material. the way you can tell the difference is the teeth of some cutters do not go all the way to the center of the end face.