Ball Nose Vs End Mill

By overlapping steps the central scallop shown in the diagram is eliminated.
Ball nose vs end mill. I have 3 different sizes 1 4 ball nose bit 1 8 ball nose bit and a 1 32 tapered ball nose bit. A ball end mill is constructed of a round cutting edge and used in the machining of dies and molds. An end mill s overall reach or length below shank lbs is a dimension that describes the necked length of reached tools. The in s out s of ball nose end mills ball nose end mills also known as full radius end mills or ball mills are cutting tools where the nose radius is equal to half of the diameter of the tool.
A ball nose end mill also known as a spherical end mill or ball end mill has a semisphere at the tool end. Roughing end mills also known as hog mills are used to quickly remove large amounts of material during heavier operations. To properly employ a ball nose end mill with no tilt angle and gain the optimal tool life and part finish follow the 2 step process below see figure 1. Ball nose mills can also be used to cut wide paths with rounded edges by reducing the step over amount overlapping distance between between passes.
In the end of the video. Cutting teeth are located on both the end face of the cutter and the periphery of the cutter body. Ball nose end mills are ideal for machining 3 dimensional contour shapes typically found in the mold and die industry the manufacturing of turbine blades and fulfilling general part radius requirements. This cutter was kind of a quick and dirty project not much precision necessary if i ever need a precision 2 ball nose end mill it will only require a bit more grinding.
I do a test cut on the cnc of a. Made of solid carbide these end mills are harder stronger and more wear resistant than high speed steel for the longest life and best finish on hard material. Ball nose end mills are used on workpieces with complex surfaces. When one end wears out switch to the opposite end for two times the life of a standard carbide end mill.
In this video i show when to used various cnc ball nose bits. Carbide ball end millswith two milling ends. This creates a constant single radius or ball at the tool end with no straight edge sharp corners in the profile.