A lot of times we just grab the first tool that's available to perform a basic milling operation it's always important to use the right tool for every application this ensures no loss in productivity. In this episode, we'll discuss the effect that a cutter with a 10 degree lead angle has on the milling process. An important rule to remember, as the lead angle of your cutter decreases so does the chip thickness and due to this you have the opportunity to increase your feed rates to compensate. Today many companies are using the machining strategy of light cutting depths and very high feed rates. Using a very small lead angle such as 10 degree should be your first choice for high feed machining with low depths of cut. With a 90 degree square shoulder cutter you get no chip thinning effect. Here, as the lead angle decreases notice how the chip thins out. As we decrease the lead angle even further, look how the chip has thinned out to almost nothing here you can dramatically increase your table feed and obtain the proper chip thickness. In summary, milling cutters that have a very small lead angle, are a smart choice for: For more Smart tips contact one of our specialists or visit us at the Sandvik Coromant web site.