SPEED TIGER Micrograin Carbide Square End Mill - 4 Flute - ISE5/16 4T (5 Pieces, 5/16") - for Milling Alloy Steels, Hardened Steel, Metal & More – Mill Bits Sets for DIYers & Professionals

Sharp and true. Does what I expect from a carbide end mill.

Bought these for a hobby. Received them and like that they are packaged individually, thus helping keep them sharp. Used them on a firearm building project and only eneded up using one. But stayed sharp and met the needs of what I was using it for. If your are a hobbyist and looking for some high quality milling bits with out having to pay a premium these are the ones to go to.

I used these bits in a Foredom jewelry engraving tool along with some StayMax Metal hollow number guided to engrave numbers in my beer flights project. Then I mixed powdered turquois in resin to make these numbered holes.

UPDATE: I upped my rating from 2 tp 4 stars. Customer service was very helpful and responsive. They actually contacted me when they saw my original review. I found that my spindle speed was too slow. Obviously it depends on the material but these bits have to be spun pretty fast and the depth and feed rate must be shallow and slow as well. My mill only spins at max 2800rpm. So I spun it at 2800rpm and took a more shallow cut along with a slow feed rate and these things cut pretty decently. I assume they would work better at an even faster spindle speed. They are still very brittle and will snap if you apply to much side pressure. Overall they did the job I needed them for. Item came packaged well and they looked good. I ordered the 1/16th size and these things snap at the slightest pressure. I almost messed up my project so I had to discontinue using them due to them snapping so easily. I tried another set I had and had no issue.

I have been using end mills for 30 years now. These are very good end mills for the money. They are not Hurricane, but you didn't pay Hurricane prices either. These are sharp, and hold their edges well. However, you need to know that this is also a specialty item. You are buying solid carbide because the job you are doing requires an end mill harder than the work piece. And at 1/8 inch, solid carbide, even the slightest wiggle will shatter it. You cannot have RC65 and over without being brittle. The picture, trying to end mill a hole to remove a broken bit that was about as hard as the end mill. First end mill grabbed and shattered. Went in again, second end mill finished the job.

I keep buying these to replace my hss end mills. They are awesome, and cut like a hot knife through butter. I cut a lot of 416 stainless and these make hss look like junk. Almost no burrs to file off even after cutting a keyway in a threaded shaft. Definitely a must.

Great endmills and a great price. I use them on hardened tool steel and had no issues.

I’m pretty sure that I;m never buying another end mill that ISN’T a Speed Tiger. I’d broken my only two carbide mills trying to alter a badly machined Arbor, so I grabbed a 5 pk of Speed tiger, in the size I needed, thinking I’ll probably break them all trying to mill this hardened tool steel. …i put the first Speed Tiger in my mill, and off we went. This thing was begging for me to feed it faster, i finished the job in two passes through the crunchiest hard steel i’ve ever milled…this stuff sounded like milling glass. ….the Speed Tiger breezed through it like i was cutting half melted aluminum, and was still as sharp as it was when I cut myself on it, mounting it, the first time. I was really shocked that it was UNphased by the crunchy hard steel that broke my other bits. …i’ll never need the other 4 that I bought… I guess they just put the other 4 in the pack, for emotional support. 😳 I really hope that I can afford some larger sizes.

Used it to cut a 1/2" keyway into a shaft 7" long. worked with great satisfaction

Milling