In this paper, a method using electrical contact resistance to monitor in-process tool wear is proposed. The high-speed tool wear detection system uses the contact resistance between the tool and workpiece as an indicator to monitor the progression of tool wear during cutting operations. The electrical resistance decreases with an increase in contact area on the tool flank. In our previous study, the objective was an end milling process using uncoated square end mills. In this experiment, our targets are solid and throw away coated square end mills. The experiment shows the present method to also be effective as an in-process tool wear detection system for coated square end mills.

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