KEVOS® MAKEOS · Manufacturing
Number of Teeth for a Milling Cutter
How many teeth should this face mill or peripheral cutter have for the cut and the power available?
Recommended number of milling cutter teeth by the handbook formulas: for face mills from cutter diameter and width of cut, for peripheral cutters from diameter, depth of cut and helix angle (both for two teeth in the cut, scalable to another number), and for high-speed milling from the power available, feed per tooth, speed, depth and width of cut.
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How this tool works
Inputs, units and where to find them
| Input | Unit | Typical source |
|---|---|---|
| Rule | choice | Which handbook rule to apply. |
| Cutter diameter | mm | Cutter diameter. |
| Width of cut | mm | Width of cut (face milling and power rule). |
| Depth of cut | mm | Depth of cut (peripheral and power rule). |
| Helix angle (peripheral) | ° | Helix angle of a peripheral cutter. |
| Teeth wanted in the cut | Number of teeth to have cutting at once (the formulas assume two). | |
| Power available at the cutter | kW | Power available at the cutter. |
| Feed per tooth | mm | Feed per tooth. |
| Cutter speed | rpm | Cutter speed. |
| Work material (power rule) | choice | Work material constant: removal rate per kilowatt (handbook values 0.65, 1.5 and 2.5 in³/min per hp, converted). |
| Material constant K (entered) | mm³/min per kW | Your own removal rate per kilowatt for the material. |
Method and formulas
- Face mills: T = 6.3 D ÷ W (two teeth in the cut).
- Peripheral cutters: T = 12.6 D cos A ÷ (D + 4d) (two teeth in the cut).
- For another number of teeth in the cut, divide by 2 and multiply by that number.
- Power rule: T = K H ÷ (F N d W) (handbook example: 7.5 kW, 0.2032 mm, 272 rpm, 3.2 × 152.4 mm cut in alloy steel gives about 4 teeth).
- Example: a 152.4 mm face mill taking a 101.6 mm wide cut should have about 9.45 teeth (the handbook rounds this example to 10).
Limitations
- Guidance only; chip space, chatter and insert geometry also govern.
- The power rule protects the motor; it does not check chip space.
- Example values are illustrations. Replace them with values for your actual task.
Typical uses
- Choose a coarse or fine pitch cutter for a job
- Avoid overloading the spindle with too many teeth
- Check that enough teeth are in the cut to avoid chatter
Who it is for
- Machinists
- Toolmakers
- Manufacturing engineers
What you get
- Recommended number of teeth
- Basis of the recommendation
- Rounded tooth count
Interpreting the result
- Fewer teeth suit long-chipping materials and heavy cuts; more teeth suit thin walls and short-chipping materials.
References
- Machinery’s Handbook, 29th edition (Industrial Press, 2012), printed pp. 808–809. Topic reference; no source tables or recommended settings are reproduced.
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