Best place to buy small endmills

[CWendling]

Have my bridgeport up and running. Now i need to order some small (3/32, 1/8) endmills. Will be for slotting guards mostly. 304, 416, copper usually. Preferences on HSS? Cobalt? 2 vs 4fl? Best place to order them from for price and quality?

 

[AVigil]

I get them from Ebay and Amazon

 

[fitzo]

The Metalworking sale catalogs at MSC Industrial frequently have pretty good deals on end mills.
https://www.mscdirect.com/resources/digital-publications

Also check their web deals and clearance flyers.

 

[12345678910]

4 flute cobalt

https://niagaracutter.com/


https://www.maritool.com

edited to add

https://www.lakeshorecarbide.com/


Those three are reputable AF


Any of the cheesy gold coloured sets you get a HF and junk importers are soft as cheese.
Especially in stainless, you might like to try cobalt vs carbide side by side and compare them.

 

[Richard338]

Lakeshore carbide was recommended when I was buying. I haven't used them too much but they performed well.

 

[SBuzek]

carbidetoolsource.com
usa made, small company, good folks to deal with.

 

[navman]

Lakeshore or McMaster Carr.

 

[logem]

They cost more, but if you are going to be slotting a substantial number of guards you may want to consider slitting/slotting saws.

https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/Milling/Milling-Saws/Slitting-Slotting-Saws?navid=12106272

 

[HSC ///]

I like Monster cutting tools.
I just keep an eye out on Ebay
You won’t need a lot of quantity
Several listed right now for $7 each
We used Monster a lot at the last machine shop I worked at

 

[butcher_block]

i have been happy with Kodiak cutting tools and i will be using gthem when i get my pantograph set up cause they also make super small bits
not sure if your BP is set up to run anything carbide this small well. mine is a HS and tops out at 5700 ish rpm. before i hahd my BP i was using dremle tool cutters in my mini mill and that worked well due to tooth count smooting thihngs out at the lower RPM

 

[PEU]

Always a good experience with https://advancedtool.com

Pablo

 

[Drew Riley]

If you're looking to save a few bucks, Amazon has some decent import brands, and many of them are available with one or two day Prime shipping.
I've ordered a few from Lakeshore Carbide as well.
Like butcher_block, I've also had good luck with Kodiak via Amazon.

 

[Mossyhorn]

The Metalworking sale catalogs at MSC Industrial frequently have pretty good deals on end mills.
https://www.mscdirect.com/resources/digital-publications

Also check their web deals and clearance flyers.

I've always like MSC Industrial. They used to have satellite stores that stocked tooling and other supplies, but they closed a lot of them and now it's pretty much online sales.

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Lakeshore Carbide here. Good quality and reasonable price and consistent. Years ago I stopped buying off-brand stuff and ebay which eliminated the cutting tool as a variable in my process which helped me to "step things up to the next level".

 

[Diemaker]

Lakeshore is where I buy my endmills for cutting steel. I like 3 flute stubs for slotting with, you certainly don't want more flutes. At that size only go with carbide. They are not much more $$ but are many times better.