End mill resharpening

[itchyTF]

Wasn't sure where to put this. For those of you who use HSS end mills (I only have a few carbide), do you resharpen or toss? If you have them resharpened who offers a good service?

 

[tobnpr]

I toss mine.
Buying lots of used HSS end mills on Fleabay covers most "generic" needs, anything specialized I don't have I get from Kodiak. That said, my mill doesn't see a lot of use from riflesmithing other than shop made fixturing and stock inletting...

 

[akajun]

I sharpen mine myself
I got a darex e90 a few years back and taught myself to do hss and cobalt with it. Works very well and taught me a lot about factory cutters, mainly that a lot are not properly ground or ground off center. I bought a diamond wheel and touched up a few carbide mills I had and while they cut well I haven’t figured out the geometry for them to get long life.
if you can find one get it. I’ve made custom diameter mills for form cutting, thick edge cutters for roughing , and pulled my butt out of the fire many times when I needed an endmill I was out of.
no your not saving money on small mills but big ones get pretty expensive and take the same time to sharpen as a big one. Even if you don’t sharpen them save them. Old endmills make good form tools, boring bars , internal threaders with a bench grinder.

 

[itchyTF]

I'm just a hobby "machinist" with not much of a budget for tooling which is why I ask.

 

[DaveTooley]

It may take some searching but I'll bet you can find a shop that specializes in sharpening machine tools. I had one when I lived near Charlotte. I never counted them but they had a lot KO Lee tool and cutter grinders setup for each op.

 

[tac284]

You might try contacting your local Fastenal store, they may be able to help. We use them for re-grinding our annular cutters (Roto-Broach)

 

[1911nut]

Here’s some:

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end mill sharpening,tool & Cutter Grinding, cutting tools, carbide tooling, custom end mill,tool sharpening

end mill, cutting tool, end mill sharpening service, end mill reconditioning, end mill manufacturing

iversontool.com

Cutting Tool Regrinding - Turning Tool Regrinding Services | RTS Cutting Tools, Inc.

RTS also offers dedicated cutting tool regrinding services - we take great care in the quality of your tools and focus on extending the life of them.

www.rtscut.com

End Mill Sharpening - Cutting Tools Chicago

Save money by sharpening your dull end mills. Full CNC sharpening, special diameters and corner radius, and re-coating available.

cuttingtoolschicago.com

 

[wedgy]

End Mill Sharpening Fixture for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for End Mill Sharpening Fixture at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

 

[butchlambert]

In the middle of the 1960s I sharpened tooling on an old KO Lee. It taught me that a great tooling shop is the way to go with no more than I use now.
I've used Marcus for about 25yrs for regrinds, special tools, and wire EDM work. His tool grinders are CNC and not the old KO Lees.

Welcome to MCC Tooling

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

Back in the day when I was working in a prototype tool room, we used Royal Oak, Winslowmatic and Cincinnati tool & cutter grinders, so that's how I learned how to properly sharpen both high-speed tool steel and carbide end mills along the cutting faces and sides. These days, I use a local fella, as mentioned in post #5, to do the work sharpening end-mills, step-drills, taps and reamers, as they have the equipment to do that. On the ½ inch and larger cutting tools, it's much cheaper to have them re-sharpened, especially those that are carbide.