So although some of you seem to think I am a shill, defame me without knowing me, and feel like I am advertising things, I have some more things to share with the greater community.
I ordered a set of CNC end mills directly off Alibaba and had great results. It was the same process I went though in buying my CNC machine direct from the manufacturer. I searched for several good looking companies with a low MOQ (minimum order quantity) of 10 or less pieces per size. Messaged them and asked them questions about quality of carbide, finishing, coatings. It was easy to send out a spreadsheet with a list of bits to each manufacturer form them to all quote the same order and most were able to supply a decent quote. Some were much more expensive, some had higher MOQ than was desired.
I settled on a company with good prices, the ability to order as few as a single but in each size and type, and they worked with me to send out any bits that I ordered 10 or more to a coating company to get the rainbow DLC coating. Now what exactly the coating specs are, I am not 100% sure, but the cost to have them sent for coating was $0.50-0.75 per bit, so it was literally pennies. I ordered 167 individual bits in all sizes from 3mm to 12mm including ball nose, tapered ball nose, up, down, compression, 1, 2, 3 flute, roughing, chip breaker, Vee, etc. everything was available.
Pricing was as low as $0.60 for a 3mm carbide 2 flute upcut. And the most expensive was the 12mm rougher at only $22. All told I paid $1159 for everything including shipping, which took 6 days and was trackable from its departure in China through to UPS delivery. So that works out to $6.90 per bit delivered and includes mostly 6mm and up sizes with many expensive roughers, tapered end mills, and specialty bits like single flute compression.
I would certainly do it again with the price of a single 12mm(1/2”) rougher like the Vortex 1180 at $364 or a 10mm Amana compression 48314-K at $128 list price (I bought 10 of these for $129).
I am happy to help out anyone looking for tips on how to setup a purchase or navigate the Chinese market. Even if you aren’t buying a large quantity, there are manufacturers that will work with you and are happy to send out a small package of 10 1/8” end mills. Even with shipping you will probably come out ahead and then have a contact to easily order more or larger bits quickly and easily.
And don’t worry about Bill poo-pooing on this thread telling me that I am advertising for a company. I would be happy to tell anyone which one I used, but there are 100 more offering the exact same things on Alibaba.
If I can figure out how to add pictures, I’ll post pictures of the bits.