Cutting tool with enhanced chip evacuation capability and method of making same

1. A milling cutter, comprising:

a shank;

a cutting head attached to the shank, the cutting head having a plurality of helical teeth, each tooth including a cutting tip, a leading face and a rear face; and

a flute defined between the leading face of a trailing tooth, and a rear face of an immediately preceding tooth,

wherein a gully of the flute is W-shaped in cross section to provide additional volume for effective chip evacuation,

wherein each tooth further comprises a planar primary relief rake facet which extends entirely between the leading face and the rear face and connects directly with both the leading face and the rear face.

2. The milling cutter of claim 1 , wherein the gully comprises two flute bases separated by a ridge.

3. The milling cutter of claim 1 , wherein the leading face has a positive or negative radial rake angle.

4. The milling cutter of claim 3 , wherein the leading face has a radial rake angle of between about −15 degrees and about +15 degrees.

5. The milling cutter of claim 1 , wherein the primary relief rake facet has a primary clearance angle of 5-10 degrees.

6. The milling cutter of claim 5 , wherein a wedge angle of each tooth is between 60-90 degrees.

7. The milling cutter of claim 1 having between 5 and 50 teeth.

8. The milling cutter of claim 1 , wherein a wedge angle of each tooth is between 60-90 degrees.

9. The milling cutter of claim 1 having a cutting diameter between 10 mm and 25 mm.