Spiral upcut router bits vs. endmills

[Jim Mackell]

Is there any major difference between spiral upcut router bits and endmills? To the naked eye they seem to perform the same function and it appears that endmills are more readily available and perhaps, less expensive.

Thoughts?

[Bill Dufour]

I buy used endmills from the bay. they seem to work just fine. Try to get the lowest number of flutes to allow chip clearance. They do not have nearly as much clearance behind the tooth so some people say they rub more. I do not see it. it does make the tooth form stronger and less resistant to chipping. Thy are rarely some that are left hand spiral which will not work in a router.
Bill D

[John TenEyck]

End mills come in a lot more varieties than router bits. I've found they work fine as long as they are the center cutting variety, and have 2 or 3 flutes. They often are cheaper than router bits of the same size, and are available in larger and longer sizes, too, which is important when you want to cut deep mortises.

John

[Peter Kuhlman]

Just have to watch the shank sizes as end mills are frequently made with the shank the same size as the cutter.

[Bill Dufour]

If they are re-sharps the cutting width is a fraction smaller. This may or may not matter to you. The used ones often all the wear is the bottom 1/8 inch or so. If you are edging this will probably not matter to you.
Bil lD.

[Jamie Buxton]

The spiral router bits I buy are carbide. Are the end mills you're looking at carbide? If not, they'd have to be a lot less expensive to have the same life-cycle cost.