Blew $300 on a "premium" end mill set that couldn't cut butter

I saw this fancy coated carbide set online with all these rave reviews, figured I'd treat myself. 10 pieces for $300 seemed like a deal compared to name brand stuff. First job with them on some 6061 aluminum and the finish looked like garbage after 20 parts. Checked runout and they were all over the place, like .002 to .005 out. Emailed the seller and they said "normal tolerance for economy tools." Economy my ass, that's scrap. Lost a whole weekend fighting with setup and redoing parts. Has anyone else gotten burned by those flashy import tool sets?

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2 Comments

miles722mo ago

Bet that $300 could've bought a single quality rougher that'd actually hold tolerance.

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the_hayden2mo ago

Man I tried a few cheaper options before and they just wouldn't hold up... finally bit the bullet on a used S&W and it paid for itself in consistency.

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