Yes I like to give anyway from a 5 to 30 deg kick when surfacing using a ball endmill. You would no problem doing 5 Axis Programming.

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A friend of mine experienced in surfacing was telling me that 2 flute endmills are the only ones that really cut all the way down to the center. I was looking at some 3 and 4 flute ball endmills, and sure enough, I see the relief. Can a 3 or 4 flute be used in the rough surfacing (or any op for that matter) at all, and how do I know the limits for speeds and feeds because of the small section of flute that is essentially not cutting?

RDG Tools Catalogue | Milling Cutters , Ball End , Slot and End, HSS and Carbide | Ball Endmills / Ball Slot Drills |  Ball Nose Endmill Hss and Carbide Metric Sizes

Ive never done any 5 axis(dream of mine...sigh...) but I've heard that if you must use a ball nose and have 5 axis you should tilt the cutter as to not use the tip.

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RDG Tools Catalogue | Milling Cutters , Ball End , Slot and End, HSS and Carbide | Ball Endmills / Ball Slot Drills |  Ball Nose Endmill Hss and Carbide Metric Sizes

Yes I like to give anyway from a 5 to 30 deg kick when surfacing using a ball endmill. You would no problem doing 5 Axis Programming.

On 3-d surfacing there is alot of downward ramping motion so a 2 flute has the best chip clearance.....yes I use only 2-fl for 3-d surfacing...

Ive never done any 5 axis(dream of mine...sigh...) but I've heard that if you must use a ball nose and have 5 axis you should tilt the cutter as to not use the tip.

While the image shows the tool being tilted if you machine a slope in a 3-axis setup then you are getting the same effect

For those who like to run mostly waterlines and horizontals, a 3 or 4 flute works just fine depending on the shape of your geometry.

RDG Tools was started up by Richard Dickinson in 1992. We started exhibiting at model engineering exhibitions in 1994 and realised from the shows that people wanted quite specialised tooling for their machines and also a wide range of tooling which they could adapt to suit their needs.

Bull cutters are great for surfacing, especially in the up/down direction.  I've used 3" indexable cutters to surface a slope on a three axis setup, and I was able to get good finish with a pretty large stepover.  You're never cutting with the center and it acts like a noticeably larger ball.  The zero SFM at the center is why five axis programmers will tilt the tool when possible so as to never cut with the center; sometimes you can do it with four axis or even three axis setups too, if you have options on how to orient your part.

http://www.harveytool.com/prod/Browse-Our-Products/Application-Specific-Designs/Diamond-Tooling_190/PCD-Diamond-End-Mills---Ball_99.aspx

Your friend needs a different end mill vendor.  If you look at a 3-flute ball there is one flute that goes past center.  A 4-flute ball has two relieved and two meeting at center like a two flute.  That being said if you MUST spend a lot of cut time using the tip, as murlin said you will probably have more success with a two flute.

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And yes basically you have zero SFM at the tip of a ball end mill so depending on material and rough or finish cut you may need to make adjustments to what you would otherwise do.

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I like to do a lot of scallop machining and most of the parts I do are complex with a lot of features so scallop does a lot of ramping down.

I only use a ball nose if I have a feature that requires it, for surfacing I rather use a bull nose or even flat sometimes.  For roughing you're going to go a lot faster with a bull or flat, the ball nose hates to be buried, you're using a lot more surface area when you rough with a ball.

Mitsubishi have a 3 flute ball nose tools with all 3 flutes to center (some of the other Japanese manufacturers do too IIRC).