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Cutting Tools (End Mills, Drills, Inserts, Tool Holders)

Cutting tools are bought on grade, not on drawing: a carbide insert is priced by substrate grade, coating (PVD/CVD), chip-breaker geometry and tolerance class. Chinese factories now hold a real cost advantage on standard ISO-pattern inserts and carbide end mills, while demanding applications still specify Japanese or European grades.

Industrial belt

Zhengzhou / Zhangdian (Henan) for superhard materials and grinding; Taizhou / Zigong clusters for carbide blanks and inserts; Shenzhen / Changzhou for finished CNC cutting tools

Typical products

Solid carbide end mill (2/3/4 flute)Ball nose & roughing cutterIndexable inserts CNMG / DNMG / APMTDrill (internal-coolant carbide)Taps & diesBT / HSK tool holders, collets

Materials

Micro-grain carbide (0.6–1.0 µm)Cemented carbide P/M/K classesHSS / HSS-CoPCD / CBN (superabrasive)

Surface finishes

AlTiN / TiAlN / TiN PVDCVD Al2O3TiB2 for aluminiumUncoated bright

Standards you will quote against

ISO 5608 / ISO 1832 insert namingDIN 6537 (end mills)JIS B 4007CAT/BT/HSK tooling interfaces

Specification reference

Attribute	What to specify
Grain size	0.4–2.0 µm; finer grain for hardness, coarser for impact
Hardness / TRS	HRA 89–93; transverse rupture 2,500–4,000 MPa
Coating	TiN (general), TiAlN (steel), AlTiN/nano (hard milling & dry)
Tolerance class	End mill h6 / premium ±0.005 mm; runout ≤0.008 mm at 3xD
Chip breakers	FM / MM / MMF-type patterns per material group
Coolant	Through-coolant on carbide drills, internal-cooling optional
Test protocol	Declare workpiece material, cutting params and expected tool life in the PO

Typical MOQ: Inserts: 10 pcs per box is standard, OEM 1,000–5,000 pcs; end mills 100–500 pcs per spec. Typical lead time: Stock 7–15 days; custom geometry 25–40 days.

Factories listed in this category

No factory page is published in this category yet. The specification table above is already usable for quotation; factory pages are added under this category URL as they are onboarded.

Questions buyers ask

How should I trial Chinese carbide inserts against my current brand?

Run them on the same machine with the same parameters on a declared workpiece, and measure tool life per insert plus built-up edge and dimensional drift, not just first-part appearance. Ask the supplier for the substrate grade and coating name in writing so a good result is repeatable across batches.

Are solid carbide end mills from China suitable for hardened steel?

For HRC 45–55 mould steel, coated fine-grain Chinese end mills work well at modest cost with conservative parameters. Above HRC 55, CBN or premium Western/Japanese grades still hold a life advantage; request the hardness range, grain size, coating and recommended parameters per model before committing.