Shell mill made from aluminium?

[old mart]

Those Chinese are clever, you can buy a 50mm, 4 flute shell mill taking APKT 1604, made from aluminium. It is anodised and dyed blue and has Helicoil type inserts in the insert holding recesses.

Would you buy one?

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Heck Yea! Like this one? I believe the body might be aluminum on this one too:

[MattiJ]

Those Chinese are clever, you can buy a 50mm, 4 flute shell mill taking APKT 1604, made from aluminium. It is anodised and dyed blue and has Helicoil type inserts in the insert holding recesses.

Would you buy one?

I have been long wondering about those and if there is some valid reason to make the mill body out of alu?

[MattiJ]

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...-mills-332177/

So its a real thing and even Sandvik makes big buck versions of them.

[old mart]

No, wrong colour, I have a couple of the steel ones, one nickel plated, and the other blued. Most of the cheap Chinese shell mills are quite good, more than adequate for home shop milling. Mine look the same apart from the colour, but one will cut 90 degrees and the other will not, the containers are labelled accordingly.

[MattiJ]

Most big tooling manufacturers seem to have them, not just chinese. Latest hot and pop in high speed milling.