Ball End Mills (Ball Nose)
Ball end mills, or ball nose end mills, are used for drilling shallow holes, slotting a channel where a flat bottom is not required or most commonly used to produce multi-dimensional contours in molds or dies. The design of ball end mills forms a hemispherical cutting action identical to the diameter of the tool. Because of the shapes required in these products it’s common that multi axis machining centers are used for this work. They can also be used in a secondary way to form a radius at the juncture of perpendicular surfaces. A ball nose end mill will produce a radius one half the diameter of of the tool used. A square end mill with a radius ground on the corner can provide a small radius at the juncture if reduction of stress is the desired objective.
The design of a two flute ball end mill allows for plenty of chip evacuation making them most effective in contouring deep pockets in molds and dies. Four or more fluted ball nose end mills have less chip evacuation due to their design but with multiple cutting edges they can produce very smooth finish by running lighter chip loads, without sacrificing a high rate of production.
Regal offers high speed and cobalt steel ball end mills that resist abrasion and retains hardness at elevated temperatures normally found in deep pocket milling. A variety of coatings can be applied to these mills that are suited to extend tool life in a variety of tough to machine materials. Off the shelf carbide ball end mills for aluminum and heat treated steel are available with AlTiN coating.
Regal's selection of Ball End Mills includes:
Two Flute Ball End Mills
- Two Flute Ball End Single End Center Cutting HSS End Mills
- Two Flute Double End Ball End Center Cutting HSS End Mills
- Two Flute Single End Ball Center Carbide End Mill
- Two Flute Single End Ball Center Cutting TC Carbide End Mill w/ AlTiN
- Two Flute Single End Ball Extended Reach Center Cutting TC Carbide End Mill w/ AlTiN
- Two Flute Single End Ball Center Cutting for Rib Processing TC Carbide End Mill w/ AlTiN
- Two Flute Single End Ball Extended Reach Center Cutting TC Carbide End Mill w/ Sapphire
Three Flute Ball End Mills
Four and more Flute Ball End Mills
- Four Flute Single End Ball Center Carbide End Mill
- Four Flute Single End Ball Center Cutting TC Carbide End Mill w/ AlTiN
- Four Flute Single End Ball Extended Reach Center Cutting TC Carbide End Mill w/ AlTiN
- Four or Six Flute Ball End Single End Center Cutting HSS End Mills
- Four or Six Flute Ball End Long & Extra Long Single End Center Cutting HSS End Mills
- Four or Six Flute Ball End Single End Center Cutting Cobalt End Mills