Study on the Form Error Evaluation Model of a Conical-Shank Ball-End Milling Cutter

This paper presents a complete form error evaluation model of a conical-shank ball-end cutter. The complete conical-shank ball-end cutter comprises three major revolving portions including the conical shank, cylindrical section, and spherical head. By using the central line of the minimum circumscribed conical shank as a datum axis and employing profile data measured directly from cutter surfaces, the proposed evaluation method systematically computes the exact revolving envelopes of the conical shank, cylindrical part, and spherical part separately, and then combines them. One application example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed modelling method. This paper provides a simple, logical, and precise method for the quality evaluation of a special rotating cutter and can be further extended for use in the quality assessment of various complicated cutters.