Had to pick between cheap Chinese endmills vs name brand for a rush job - big mistake

My shop ran out of 3/16 2-flute endmills last Tuesday and I had a 50 part order due Friday. I went online and saw a pack of 10 no-name ones for $35 vs $18 each for the brand I usually run. Being cheap and desperate I grabbed the $35 pack figuring how bad could they be. First part ran fine but by part 8 the finish looked like crap and I had to swap bits. By the time I finished I went through 6 of them and the parts needed deburring that added 2 extra hours. Should have just bought 2 name brand ones like normal. Has anyone else been burned by bargain tooling on a deadline?

2 comments

2 Comments

stone.simon23d ago

Man that $35 pack sounded like a steal but ended up costing you way more in labor and headaches. Did you check the actual specs on those cheap endmills before you bought them though? A lot of those no name ones have terrible tolerances and bad coating which explains why they dulled so fast. Sometimes the savings just arent worth it when youre racing a deadline and quality matters.

ray_carr22d ago

You ever had a buddy buy a whole box of cheap inserts from some random eBay seller? My friend Mike grabbed a set of carbide endmills for like forty bucks, thought he was golden. First cut on some 4140 steel and the thing chipped before he even got halfway through a slot. He spent the next two days resharpening junk and still ended up buying new ones from a proper supplier. Sure seems like you just pay for the lesson in the long run.