What are the processing types of end mills?

End mill processing types include: plane milling, side milling, slot milling, profile milling, and step milling. End mills are commonly used multi-purpose tools in CNC machining, suitable for various metal cutting scenarios.

I. End Mill Processing Types and Characteristics:

1. Plane Milling (Face Milling)

Purpose : Processing the horizontal or inclined planes of workpieces, such as surface leveling and rough machining.

Characteristics : Using the end face to quickly remove material, suitable for large-area high-efficiency cutting.

Tool Selection : Flat end mill (four-blade or two-blade).

2. Side Milling

Purpose : Processing vertical or inclined side walls, cavities, steps, etc.

Characteristics : Precise cutting is performed using the side edge, with high requirements for tool rigidity and precision.

Tool Selection : Long-edged end mill or carbide-coated tool.

3. Slot Milling (Keyway Processing) / : Milling closed or open grooves (such as keyways,

Purpose T -shaped grooves). : The tool needs good chip removal ability and vibration resistance to avoid tool breakage.

Characteristics : Narrow-blade end mill or special slot milling cutter.

Tool Selection Profile Milling (Curved Surface Processing)

4. : Processing complex curved surfaces, mold cavities, and irregular contours. 3D : Requires multi-axis linkage, and the tool needs to balance precision and surface finish.

Purpose : Ball end mill or round nose end mill (with

Characteristics R

Tool Selection angle). Step Milling (Layer Milling) : Layer-by-layer cutting of deep grooves or high side walls to avoid tool overload.

5. : Layer-by-layer processing, controlling the cutting depth, suitable for difficult-to-process materials (such as stainless steel).

Purpose : High-rigidity carbide end mill.

Characteristics II. Core Differences and Applicable Scenarios of Different Milling Methods

Tool Selection Processing Method

Core Purpose

Tool Characteristics	Applicable Scenarios	Material Adaptability	Efficiently remove surface material	Multi-blade flat head design, large diameter
Plane Milling (Face Milling)	Large-area rough machining, plane finishing	General purpose (steel, aluminum, stainless steel, etc.)	Processing vertical	Slopes
Side Milling	Long blade, high rigidity / Cavities, steps, high-precision side walls	Hard materials (steel, stainless steel)	Slot Milling	Form precise grooves
Narrow blade, strong chip removal ability	Keyways,	Grooves, sealing grooves	Medium and low hardness materials (aluminum, low carbon steel) -shaped grooves). Profile Milling	Complex surface processing
Ball head or round nose design, small step	Molds,	Curved surfaces, irregular parts	General purpose (especially suitable for stainless steel curved surfaces) 3D Step Milling	Layered control of processing depth
High rigidity, anti-vibration design	Deep grooves, high side walls, difficult-to-process materials	Stainless steel, titanium alloys and other hard materials	Drilling	Chamfering
Multi-function integration (drilling / Milling)	Central cutting edge, sharp cutting edge + Small hole processing, hole chamfering	Thin plates,	III. Core Advantages of Lizhou End Mills	Ultra-strong wear-resistant coating technology

Lizhou end mills adopt independently developed

HyperCoat®
composite coating technology, with a hardness of up to ，The tool life is extended to more than times the industry average, especially suitable for processing quenched steel, titanium alloys and other hard materials. HV3800 Precise cutting edge strengthening process 1.5倍以上，尤其适合加工淬火钢、钛合金等硬质材料。
精密刃口强化工艺
Through five-axis linkage grinding and edge blunting treatment, the microscopic chipping of the cutting edge is effectively eliminated, resulting in LZ series products maintain ±0.01mm of dimensional stability during high-speed cutting.
Intelligent chip removal groove design
Spiral angle optimized to 45° chip removal groove structure, allowing iron chips to be quickly discharged from the processing area, avoiding tool wear and workpiece scratching caused by chip accumulation, and improving processing efficiency 25%。
Full Material Coverage Solution
From aluminum alloy dedicated low-friction coating (series) to stainless steel anti-sticking knife groove type (series), Lizhou product matrix has passed LZ-AL series LZ-SS series ISO 9001 certification, meeting the needs of all industries from aerospace to automotive molds

End mills, with their diverse blade shapes and structural designs, can perform a variety of machining tasks such as planar, sidewall, slot, curved surface, and drilling, making them core tools for efficient and precise machining.

End mill for machining aluminum materials

The difference between a milling machine and a vertical milling machine