Out Company used to have somebody else plasmacut cutting anvils for us.
This was expensive, plus heat generated by plasma caused already unstable anvils to warp like crazy making them very hard to grind flat.

So when foreman told me to machine one on CNC i immidately asked him to buy one of those nifty Hanita TiALN coated Varimill cutters.
Too bad they are too expensive. So the company bought same style of cutters made by Niagara. 0.5" end mill there is x3 cheaper than hanita's. Plus i believe cutting tools made to the same specs, out of the same materials are performing identical.

The machine we ve been using for this is really shaky and busted, so dont laugh at speeds and feeds that we came up with.

So basically, Specs Are:

• Material: Hardox pre-hardened steel Rc 45-50
• Cutter: 4 Flute, Stagger Flute TiALN coted 0.5" Micrograin Carbide End Mill, 2.5" Overall, 0.625" Flute Length, 1" overhang
• Operation: Slotting
• Speed: 1200 RPM
• Feed: 4.8 IPM
• Depth OF Cut: 0.125"
• Plunge method: 2.5 Deg Ramp/Helix, Or Plunge into 0.281Dia pilot hole at 3 IPM
• Coolant: Airblast + Oil

Hanita Varimill II Speeds and feeds Table

Plus Ordering information