Rant: Spent $150 on a fancy end mill set that was totally garbage

Ngl, I saw this set of five carbide end mills from some online brand called 'PrecisionCut Pro' and thought I was getting a steal for $150. First cut on a piece of 6061 aluminum and the thing chipped before I even hit full RPM. The other four lasted maybe 10 minutes total before they were dull as a butter knife. Has anyone else gotten burned by those budget multi-packs on Amazon?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim81917d ago

Yeah man, "stamped whatever brand name they want" is the part that got me. I used to think as long as the brand looked legit and the reviews were good, you were fine. But then I bought a 4-pack from "MillingMaster" that had like 800 reviews, all 4.5 stars. First pass on 7075 aluminum and the coating literally flaked off after two passes. The chips were like sandpaper dust instead of nice curls. So I checked the HRC like you said and of course there was nothing listed, just generic marketing fluff. Now I only buy from tooling suppliers that actually list the grade and hardness, even if it costs more.

evaallen17d ago

The 30 seconds it took me to realize "PrecisionCut Pro" is just a rebranded AliExpress listing for $20 packs. I actually recognized the packaging from a buddy who bought the same set under a different name for way less. These sellers buy bulk Chinese carbide blanks, stamp whatever brand name they want, and list them at 5x markup. You probably got M2 HSS end mills painted gold to look like carbide, not actual carbide. I've started checking the HRC specs on the listing - if they won't list a hardness rating, it's fake.

daniel_lane3017d ago

$150 lesson learned and now I'm the proud owner of some very expensive paint scrapers.