A face mill consists of a cutter body (with the appropriate machine taper) that is designed to hold multiple disposable carbide
or ceramic tips or inserts, often golden in color. The tips are not
designed to be resharpened and are selected from a range of types that
may be determined by various criteria, some of which may be: tip shape,
cutting action required, material being cut. When the tips are blunt,
they may be removed, rotated (indexed) and replaced to present a fresh,
sharp face to the workpiece, this increases the life of the tip and
thus their economical cutting life.
Side and face cutter
The side and face cutter is designed with cutting teeth on its side as
well as its circumference. They are made in varying diameters and
widths depending on the application. The teeth on the side allow the
cutter to make unbalanced cuts (cutting on one side only) without deflecting the cutter as would happen with a slitting saw or slot cutter (no side teeth).
Slab mills are used either by themselves or in gang milling
operations on manual horizontal or universal milling machines to
machine large broad surfaces quickly. They have been superseded by the
use of Carbide tipped face mills that are then used in vertical mills
or machining centres.
Involute gear cutter
The image shows a Number 4 cutter from an involute gear
cutting set. There are 7 cutters (excluding the rare half sizes) that
will cut gears from 12 teeth through to a rack (infinite diameter). The
cutter shown has markings that show it is a
A face mill consists of a cutter body (with the appropriate machine taper) that is designed to hold multiple disposable carbide
or ceramic tips or inserts, often golden in color. The tips are not
designed to be resharpened and are selected from a range of types that
may be determined by various criteria, some of which may be: tip shape,
cutting action required, material being cut. When the tips are blunt,
they may be removed, rotated (indexed) and replaced to present a fresh,
sharp face to the workpiece, this increases the life of the tip and
thus their economical cutting life.
Slab mills are used either by themselves or in 
The image shows a Number 4 cutter from an involute gear
cutting set. There are 7 cutters (excluding the rare half sizes) that
will cut gears from 12 teeth through to a rack (infinite diameter). The
cutter shown has markings that show it is a
