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Differences Between General-Purpose Milling Cutters and High-Hardness Milling Cutters

Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-08-29 Origin: Site

The core differences between general-purpose milling cutters and high-hardness milling cutters lie in multiple dimensions such as design objectives, performance parameters, and application scenarios, which can be analyzed in detail from the following aspects:

First, there is a significant difference in design positioning and core objectives. General-purpose milling cutters are designed with "versatility" as the original intention, aiming to adapt to a variety of common machining scenarios without the need for extreme optimization for specific materials or working conditions. Their core goal is to balance cost, machining efficiency, and basic machining quality, so as to meet the conventional milling needs of most medium and low-hardness materials (such as ordinary steel, cast iron, aluminum alloy, etc.). Typical applications include basic processes like face milling, groove machining, and rough contour machining. In contrast, high-hardness milling cutters are designed with "targeted performance" as the core, specifically developed for the machining of high-hardness materials (usually with a hardness of ≥HRC45, and even up to HRC65 or above). Their objective is to overcome challenges such as high cutting resistance and high cutting temperature during the machining of high-hardness materials, ensuring machining accuracy, tool life, and machining stability. Common applications include semi-finishing or finishing of die steel (e.g., H13, S136), quenched steel, high-strength alloys, and other materials.

Second, the tool materials differ significantly. General-purpose milling cutters prioritize "economy and versatility" in material selection. Common materials include high-speed steel (HSS, suitable for low-speed milling of low-hardness materials, featuring low cost but poor heat resistance) and ordinary cemented carbide (e.g., WC-Co series cemented carbide, which is compatible with medium and low-hardness steel, cast iron, etc., and offers high cost-effectiveness). Some general-purpose milling cutters designed for non-ferrous metals use coated cemented carbide (e.g., TiAlN coating to improve wear resistance), but the coating performance does not need to be extreme. On the other hand, high-hardness milling cutters rely on special materials with "high hardness, high heat resistance, and high wear resistance". The mainstream materials include ultra-fine grain cemented carbide (with a grain size of <1μm, which has higher hardness and strength and can withstand the cutting impact of high-hardness materials), cermets (e.g., TiCN-based cermets, which have better heat resistance than ordinary cemented carbide and are suitable for medium and high-speed cutting of high-hardness materials), and cubic boron nitride (CBN, which has the second-highest hardness after diamond, can withstand cutting temperatures above 1200°C, and is a core choice for machining materials with hardness ≥HRC50). In some high-precision scenarios, diamond (PCD) is also used, which is suitable for high-hardness non-metals or non-ferrous metals but not for steel materials.

Third, the tool structure and geometric parameter design are distinct. The structure of general-purpose milling cutters emphasizes "smooth chip evacuation and machining adaptability". For example, the number of teeth is usually 3-4 (roughing milling cutters have fewer teeth to facilitate chip evacuation, while finishing milling cutters have slightly more teeth to improve surface quality). The cutting edge angle is designed to be relatively gentle (the rake angle is usually 5°-15°, and the relief angle is 8°-12°) to avoid insufficient cutting edge strength due to excessively steep angles. At the same time, the chip flute of the cutter body is wide to adapt to the chip shapes of various materials. In contrast, the structure of high-hardness milling cutters focuses on "cutting edge strength and impact resistance". They usually have fewer teeth (mostly 2-3 teeth) to reduce the number of teeth in simultaneous contact during cutting, thereby lowering cutting resistance and cutting heat. The cutting edge angle is more "robust" (the rake angle may be 0° or even a negative rake angle to improve the chipping resistance of the cutting edge, and the relief angle is slightly larger to reduce friction between the flank face and the workpiece). The chip flute design is more compact, and the surface polishing is more refined. This not only prevents chip clogging (chips of high-hardness materials are relatively small and hard) but also reduces chip wear on the cutting edge. Some high-hardness milling cutters also adopt an "unequal pitch" design to reduce vibration during machining and improve stability.

Fourth, the adaptability to cutting parameters and machining conditions varies. The cutting parameter range of general-purpose milling cutters is wide, with a focus on "flexible adjustment". For example, the cutting speed is usually 50-200 m/min (adjusted according to different materials; for instance, it can be higher for aluminum alloys and lower for ordinary steel), and the feed rate is 0.1-0.3 mm/tooth. They can be adapted to ordinary CNC milling machines or machining centers and have low requirements for machine tool rigidity. In contrast, the cutting parameters of high-hardness milling cutters require "accurate matching". Due to the concentrated cutting heat during the machining of high-hardness materials, the cutting speed is usually lower (e.g., when machining die steel with HRC60, the cutting speed of cemented carbide milling cutters is approximately 20-50 m/min, and that of CBN milling cutters is about 80-150 m/min), and the feed rate is smaller (0.05-0.15 mm/tooth). Moreover, they have extremely high requirements for machine tool rigidity, spindle accuracy, and cooling systems: the machine tool must have sufficient rigidity to resist cutting impact, the spindle runout must be ≤0.005 mm to ensure machining accuracy, and high-pressure internal cooling (with a cooling pressure of ≥10 MPa) must be used to timely remove cutting heat and prevent tool failure due to overheating.

Finally, there are differences in application scenarios and costs. General-purpose milling cutters are suitable for "conventional machining of multi-variety, medium and low-hardness materials", such as rough machining of mechanical parts, machining of non-quenched areas of ordinary molds, and batch machining of aluminum alloy structural parts. The cost of a single tool is low (HSS milling cutters cost a few yuan to dozens of yuan, and ordinary cemented carbide milling cutters cost dozens of yuan to hundreds of yuan), the replacement frequency is low, and they are suitable for small-batch or multi-category production. High-hardness milling cutters, on the other hand, are applicable to "high-precision machining of high-hardness materials", such as finishing of quenched molds (e.g., mold cavities, cutting edges), key processes of high-strength alloy parts (e.g., titanium alloys and superalloys in the aerospace field), and final forming machining of precision parts. The cost of a single tool is extremely high (ultra-fine cemented carbide milling cutters cost hundreds of yuan to thousands of yuan, and CBN milling cutters cost thousands of yuan to tens of thousands of yuan). However, they can avoid the "multiple heat treatment-machining" cycle during the machining of high-hardness materials, improve overall production efficiency, and are suitable for high-precision, high-demand niche scenarios or key processes.

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Differences Between General-Purpose Milling Cutters and High-Hardness Milling Cutters

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