Kodiak Cutting Tools® Speeds and Feeds Blog

Cutting Tool Talk, Tips and News for Machinist, Metalworkers and Fabricators of All Kinds

Dorian Tools Now Available on Kodiak

We have added 3,000 of Dorian Tool's most popular items to our website.

Dorian offers a wide range of toolholders, boring bars and other machine tool accessories, many of which are made right here in the USA, and stocked in Texas as well as other regional distribution centers throughout the country.

Other products that you may find interesting include; ER Collets and Collet Sets, V-Flange Tooling, Live Centers and Adjustable Angle Heads.



View all of the Dorian Tool Products

New Closeout Tools Available!

Great news for discount cutting tool shoppers!

             We have a fantanstic new load of additions to our closeout and overstock section, with blowout prices on discontinued items. The carbide or high speed steel these closeout tools are made from is premium grade material, and the tools are brand new in the original packaging. The only reason we are letting these tools go at such a discount, is that we have made some changes to a series of tools, or in some cases taken them out of our standard offering of cutting tools. 

                 These premium high speed steel or solid carbide cutting tools cut just as well the rest of the tools on our site, so don't miss this opportunity to take advantage of these huge savings, while we have them available.

Here is what you will find:

NEW CLOSEOUT & OVERSTOCK ADDITIONS:















also, see us on eBay for this and much, much more......

New Kodiak Cutting Tools Instagram Account

We have recently added an Instagram account, where we will be posting videos of our tools in use, in the future.



If you are an Instagram user, please follow us there to see these new images and videos as we share them.

Currently we have some users of our tools that have posted some videos of their work with our tools. We hope to have more user videos to share with you soon as well.

If you are a user of our tools and have some video content of Kodiak tools in action, we would love to see them!

Thank You,

                    The Kodiak Team



The New Kodiak 2018-2019 Catalog is Here!

Check out the new Kodiak Cutting Tools 2018-2019 catalog, featuring and expanded selection of micro-end mills, a new net price format and an expanded technical section.

Download Here, or Contact Us for a Printed Copy

https://www.kodiakcuttingtools.com/kodiak_cutting_tools_catalog.pdf



This catalog is our best to date, and features easy to read product tables and crisp cutting tool images, for aiding in your tool selection. Now featuring over 8,000 different Carbide End Mills for all of your milling needs!

We have changed the format to eliminate the 50% discount that used to be applied to the catalog list prices. The new catalog already has the 50% discount included in the price.

If you order online, or if your account receives an additional volume discount, just apply that to the catalog prices. This will give you a better idea of what the tools cost, at a glance, for planning and estimating purposes.

Metals Closeouts Available from Snow Metal Products - Aluminum, Brass, Bronze, Stainless and More

We are pleased to offer you the list of closeout metals available from Snow Metal Products listed at the link below. Included are rounds, flats, tubing, channel, angle and other various forms of metal. Most items are measured in inches, but please be sure to contact Snow Metal Products to confirm unit of measure for the price shown.

The items available may be in various lengths, so contact Snow Metal Products for confirm what length the total quantity shown is available in.

        http://www.kodiakcuttingtools.com/snowmetalproducts/

To Order Please Contact
Snow Metal Products LLC
Scottsville, NY
Phone: 585-889-7213
Fax: 585-889-7572
Email: anolan@snowmetal.net


  • Aluminum flats, rounds, squares, channels and angles (2011, 2024, 6061, 6063, 7075)
  • 4140 Alloy Steel hexes and flats, cold finished and pre-hardened
  • 4340 Ally Steel rounds annealed
  • 8620 cold finished rounds
  • 4150 hot rolled annealed rounds
  • CDA360 Brass rounds, flats, squares and hexes
  • Bronze Rounds and Rings C841, C544, AMPCO18, 660
  • Cast Iron rounds Class 40
  • 1018 Cold Rolled Steel rounds and flats
  • 1117 Steel Rounds
  • 12L14 Steel Rounds
  • Low Carbon Ground Flat Stock
  • Hot Rolled Steel Flats, Channels and Angles
  • Stainless Steel flats, rounds, hexes, plate, squares and tubing (303, 304, 316 416 17-4PH, 410, 416, 440C
  • Turned, Ground and Polished Shafting Material (C1045)
  • Threaded Rod - steel, alloy and metric sizes
  • Tool Steel L-6
  • Tubing and Pipe - aluminum, steel, stainless steel

New Closeout Cutting Tools Available!

This is an exciting opportunity for those of you looking for some high quality USA made cutting tools and a fantastic price!


We have discontinued these items from our catalog, but they are as good as ever. We have the following types of items available: 

-2 flute carbide end mills with a corner radius (uncoated and ALTiN)

-all varieties of high speed steel end mills (2,4 & 6 flute, single & double end, uncoated & ALTiN)

-very small carbide straight flute drills (uncoated and ALTiN)

-bell style center drills (combined drill & countersinks)

-drill drifts & screw extractors

If you can find a way to use these tools the pricing is excellent. We have a lot of large diameter 2 flute carbide and mills that could be used for roughing applications for example. We will also be adding more closeout items soon.

New Shipping Programs Available

We are happy to announce new shipping programs designed to make doing business with www.kodiakcuttingtools.com easier than ever!

Now for orders over $40 you have the option of free 3-7 day economy shipping. Unlike our 1-2 day shipping program (which is free over $100) the economy shipping does not always ship the same day. The packages usually ship through the United States Post Office, but require an additional 1-2 days for handling.

So if you are in a hurry for your carbide end mills, taps and other cutting tools, you may still want to use the 1-2 day shipping service, but if you have planned ahead a bit you can sure save a lot on freight charges with our new economy shipping program.


End Mills for machining plastics

A customer was looking for an end mil to try on plastics. Plastics come is a wide variety of compositions and hardness, therefore a lot depends on the type of plastic being machined. Here is our advice to get started:

 

      All of our end mills are designed primarily for metals, but many people use them on plastics, composites and hardwoods as well. I would start with the basic four flute end mills. If you have trouble with chip clearance/chip evacuation, you might have to look at a 2 flute, however, you will get a better finish with the four flute. We have some customers that have used the end mills for aluminum in harder plastics. These tools for aluminum have a higher helix angle and more room between the flutes for chip evacuation. Because the core does not have to be as large and strong as for other metals, we can grind these deeper for better chip removal. The aluminum cutting are a high-performance tool that cost a lot more than the regular end mills though, so you have to take that into account.

 

         Although you may see some benefit from a coating, I don't think it would justify the expense, so I would stick with the uncoated tools. Most people cutting plastic seem to be using uncoated tools. I don't think you see much benefit from the coatings until you reach higher temperatures, like 900-2200 degrees F.

 

         So here are some links to some basic ones to consider. Other variables are length, ball end and corner radius, in addition to the regular length  square end end mills that I have linked to here.

 

         Just let me know if we can be of any further assistance.

                                                                               

 

 

http://www.kodiakcuttingtools.com/viewproducts/carbide-end-mills-4-flute-single-end/

 

http://www.kodiakcuttingtools.com/viewproducts/carbide-end-mills-2-flute-single-end/

 

http://www.kodiakcuttingtools.com/viewproducts/carbide-end-mills-3-flute-single-end-45-degree-for-aluminum/

question about 2 flute vs. 4 flute carbide end mill for aluminum

A customer was trying to decide whether to use a 2-flute or 4-flute carbide end mill for his job on aluminum. One important question before spending the extra money for a high-performance tool, is how many parts are you making?


 I think one you might look at is our part number 136475. This is 1/4" x 4" long with a 1" length of cut. The number of flutes is a trade-off between better finish and better chip evacuation. Sometimes with softer grades of aluminum the flutes could get clogged up, but as long as that is not an issue for you a 4 flute will give you a better finish and do more work per rotation of the tool. I think a lot of people are using this tool for doing a similar application. There is also a popular one with the gunsmiths that is specifically for aluminum. The part number is 150104 (150027 for uncoated). This is a high-performance tool that is capable of doing long production runs and much high speeds & feeds than the standard tool, but if you are not doing a large quantity it would probably be more than you need. The high performance ones have 3 flutes, a deeper clearance between the flutes for better chip evacuation and an optional ZrN coating specifically for aluminum and other non-ferrous metals. The high-performance also has a 45 degree helix instead of the standard 30 degree. This provides a better finish due to a shearing action of the flutes and also helps get the chips up and out. The main reason carbide end mills fail is when the re-cut a chip from the previous machining, so the chip evacuation is important, but if you are doing a smaller quantity you can try to use air of fluids to keep the cutting area clear from chips.