The new Spectre solid-carbide end mills from Tewkesbury-based Quickgrind Ltd have been designed to allow machine shops to increase the speeds and feed rates used when milling (www.quickgrind.com).

According to the company, by reducing depth-of-cut and increasing the feed rate by up to six-times that of conventional end mills, manufacturers can greatly improve material removal rates.

The high-feed Spectre range is suitable for rough-machining operations such as slotting, pocket milling and contour machining.

Indeed, these end mills can even be used for pocketing with high length-to-diameter ratios, says the company.

Spectre three-flute end mills are based on a coated-carbide substrate, ‘novel’ edge geometry and neck-relieved shanks.

They have been designed to withstand high cutting forces and accommodate extended-reach applications in deep-cavity machining operations.

Other applications where machine shops will benefit from the use of Spectre end mills include plunging and helical ramping.

Highlighting the performance levels available, Quickgrind says that a 12mm-diameter Spectre cutter can mill materials such as carbon steel, alloy steel or cast iron at cutting speeds of up to 180m/min and a feed per tooth up to 0.6mm at a 0.7mm depth of cut.

Quickgrind’s Spectre end mills are suitable for machining materials such as stainless steels, Inconel, titanium, tool steel and hardened steel (up to 50HRc); they are available in diameters of 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12mm. Long-series versions are available in diameters of 6 and 8mm, with short-series types available in diameters of 8 and 12mm.