• Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.

cutter grinder idea

SparWeb said:
I have used their service myself from time to time. A friend of mine did more regularly, running a HAAS CNC, and I remember him sticking with them for a while. Back then he had "batch" projects that would use up tooling, then he'd fix or replace things that broke, or sharpen what was dull, to be ready for the next lot.
Click to expand...

Sounds good. I'll see if I can find an outfit like that around here.

I can't really see myself sharpening end mills myself. Heck, I can't even sharpen a drill bit decently. Sure, they work, but nothing beats a 15 minute trip to Varco for a brand new high quality drill bit. Saving up all my end mills and drill bits for an occasional trip to a sharpening outfit makes a lot of sense to me.
 
Susquatch said:
Sounds good. I'll see if I can find an outfit like that around here.

I can't really see myself sharpening end mills myself. Heck, I can't even sharpen a drill bit decently. Sure, they work, but nothing beats a 15 minute trip to Varco for a brand new high quality drill bit. Saving up all my end mills and drill bits for an occasional trip to a sharpening outfit makes a lot of sense to me.
Click to expand...
I've reached out to F&J Cutter Grinding in Brampton, Ontario. They responded right away, but they're on holidays this week, and she would get back to me with prices next week.
 
thestelster said:
I've reached out to F&J Cutter Grinding in Brampton, Ontario. They responded right away, but they're on holidays this week, and she would get back to me with prices next week.
Click to expand...

Sounds awesome! Please keep me posted. I'll keep looking closer too. So far all I've found is knife sharpening.
 
finding someone to sharpen endmills might be the way to go, especially if they are nearby. If anybody knows of a sharpening service in sask. let me know. I have 4 1" cutters that I think would be worth sharpening as well as a few smaller ones. Looking forward to hearing cost estimates.
 
OK, did some phoning around and found a sharpening service in Regina. 100 mi. away but he estimated $20 to sharpen a 4 fl. HSS 1" end mill. I thought it's not out of line considering the cost of new cutters. Going to give him a try.
 
For the Ontario guys I send all our cutters from work to RME in Guelph, and they always do a great job, at a fair price. They do coatings too, and have in the past put a nose custom radius on endmills for us along with laser engraved the size on the shank. First rate professional job. Never had an issue.

https://www.rmepvd.com/

We typically save up and send them a big pile to do, once or twice a year or whenever we need them.

Before using RME I had a batch of endmills sharpened by some guy with a cutter grinder in his garage. I could have done better with a bench grinder. They were completely useless, and he was a ghost in the wind about it. RME was only slightly more money and worth every penny.

For context I just dug through some emails for some #'s. A brand new 1/2" 4flute Niagra bright finish std carbide endmill is $27 (todays purchase), and to have that same endmill sharpened (dia/ends depending on requirements) is $14 (price from last order in late 2021).

I typically won't send anything below 3/8" to get sharpened as it's not really worth it, but have in the past as having undersized tooling is helpful to have around sometimes. This is for CNC work, so I can adjust offsets to dial in whatever cutter size I have.
 
Dan Dubeau said:
For the Ontario guys I send all our cutters from work to RME in Guelph, and they always do a great job, at a fair price. They do coatings too, and have in the past put a nose custom radius on endmills for us along with laser engraved the size on the shank. First rate professional job. Never had an issue.

https://www.rmepvd.com/

We typically save up and send them a big pile to do, once or twice a year or whenever we need them.

Before using RME I had a batch of endmills sharpened by some guy with a cutter grinder in his garage. I could have done better with a bench grinder. They were completely useless, and he was a ghost in the wind about it. RME was only slightly more money and worth every penny.

For context I just dug through some emails for some #'s. A brand new 1/2" 4flute Niagra bright finish std carbide endmill is $27 (todays purchase), and to have that same endmill sharpened (dia/ends depending on requirements) is $14 (price from last order in late 2021).

I typically won't send anything below 3/8" to get sharpened as it's not really worth it, but have in the past as having undersized tooling is helpful to have around sometimes. This is for CNC work, so I can adjust offsets to dial in whatever cutter size I have.
Click to expand...
Excuse me??? Where are you getting those 1/2" Niagara's from? KBC price is $91.91!!
 
If I told you I'd have to keeeel you lol. Just keeeeding.

They are not branded "Niagara" They are generic "made in USA", but I've heard from a few different people (tool vendors) they are in fact made by Niagara. The truth? I'm not 100% sure, and I probably shouldn't have said Niagara without knowing for sure TBH. I use them for general purpose milling of O1, and other tool steels, and they perform the same for my needs as the more expensive "branded" ones (except for a few) I've tried over the years, so I've never bothered to look elsewhere. For aluminum I use actual Niagara branded 3 flute high helix endmills, and they are amazing. More $$, but they are worth every penny for aluminum.

KBC price IMO is generally more expensive than what you can get from some industrial suppliers for generic things like endmills/drills if you have a decent volume. We have a guy that we've dealt with for a very long time for stuff like this as well as quite a lot of the other products/hardware we use. I'll ask him if he doesn't mind his name getting out there before posting it up. I know some of our other tool vendors don't like small/hobbiest accounts. We're not a big high volume customer, a small shop really, but it does pay to shop around and develop some relationships with vendors of frequently used tooling.

This is one of those endmills, that has been reground by RME on both dia, and length a few times now.

rqLkaqwl.jpg


After typing this post, and looking at actual branded Niagara endmills I DO have in stock, I'm not so sure anymore. I know there are a ton of variables/models/lines etc, but there are far more differences....For all I know now, these could be rebaged chinese endmills, and he's been pulling the wool over us for years lol. Either way, I've always been happy with them.
 
Think I've figured out how to the center cutting grind in the Deckel clone. Bought the cupped wheel and will likely do a test grind this weekend.

Only working on Carbide, wheels for HSS bits cost more than those for carbide.

Once I've got it figured out I share the method.
 
thestelster said:
I've reached out to F&J Cutter Grinding in Brampton, Ontario. They responded right away, but they're on holidays this week, and she would get back to me with prices next week.
Click to expand...
Here is the response from F&J regarding endmill sharpening:

Pricing to sharpen endmills:

1/2" carbide endmill, sharp corner $13.50 each
3/8" carbide endmill, sharp corner $10.50 each
>5/16" carbide endmill, sharp corner $8.75 each

Thank you!


Teresa Alonzi, B.A., P.F.P
Account Manager
F&J Cutter Grinding Service
1 Delta Park Blvd, Unit 10+11 | Brampton, ON L6T 5G1
P: 905-791-4721 | F: 905-791-8610
[email protected] | www.cuttergrinding.com
 
thestelster said:
Here is the response from F&J regarding endmill sharpening:

Pricing to sharpen endmills:

1/2" carbide endmill, sharp corner $13.50 each
3/8" carbide endmill, sharp corner $10.50 each
>5/16" carbide endmill, sharp corner $8.75 each

Thank you!


Teresa Alonzi, B.A., P.F.P
Account Manager
F&J Cutter Grinding Service
1 Delta Park Blvd, Unit 10+11 | Brampton, ON L6T 5G1
P: 905-791-4721 | F: 905-791-8610
[email protected] | www.cuttergrinding.com
Click to expand...

Good stuff!

Do you think this pricing would apply to broken end mills too? What if I cut and pregrind them flat?

Did she mention minimum quantities and/or turnaround timing?

Are you gunna give it a go?
 
She didn't mention minimums. Yes, I think I'll send a bunch of them. I have 16-1/2" carbide endmills that need sharpening, as well as 3/8", and 1/4". Maybe I'll send them 5 of each size for now.
 
stelster, those prices seem Ok to me. I don't have much carbide, but I'd pay that to get my cutters tuned up. let us know how it works out
 
Coming back to this post. Asking the powers that be, @Mcgyver @RobinHood @Degen and anyone else who actually sharpens their own endmills, what tooling do I need to do a professional job sharpening my carbide endmills? Sides and ends.

I have a surface grinder, (Browne & Sharpe 612 Micromaster), and ER40 and 5C collets.
 
There are tools that let you sharpen ends on a surface grinder (I looked at those). I believe I have seen setups that allow side grinding as well.

As to side and ends and how serious you want to get.

The Deckle clone is IMHO the entry leve and least costly, I believe the Journey Man (or clone) is the next level (larger range of motion and air bearing for better precision). The price goes up from there to complete CNC automated machines.

I will add unless you are willing to master this skill it is a difficult road to go, I am still working on it for very specific applications.
 
Degen said:
There are tools that let you sharpen ends on a surface grinder (I looked at those). I believe I have seen setups that allow side grinding as well.

As to side and ends and how serious you want to get.

The Deckle clone is IMHO the entry leve and least costly, I believe the Journey Man (or clone) is the next level (larger range of motion and air bearing for better precision). The price goes up from there to complete CNC automated machines.
Click to expand...
I would prefer to use my surface grinder, and make or buy a jig. I can get them professionally sharpened for around $14.00 for 1/2" carbide EM each, so whatever I buy or make has to be reasonsble in price or practicality.
 
thestelster said:
I would prefer to use my surface grinder, and make or buy a jig. I can get them professionally sharpened for around $14.00 for 1/2" carbide EM each, so whatever I buy or make has to be reasonsble in price or practicality.
Click to expand...
Most of the sharpening services do both edges so your EM decreases in dia. The better ones will even re-coat the finish.

Have just the end done in my case dia is important, is the main reason I'm learning as some shops won't just do the ends.

The second reason I bought a Deckle clone was I don't have a surface grinder (though I'd like one) and space is not available to place one.
 
I have 2 HSS endmills, 3/4 and 1" that just had the first 3/8 or 1/2 " of the flute damaged. I cut 1/2 " off the end and am playing with regrinding the ends. My idea of using a valve grinder is not likely to work out due to the design of the machine. A valve grinder is really only useful for one thing, and that does not include grinding endmills.
 
I have both a Deckel SO tool grinder and a Clarkson T&C Grinder with all attachments except the air bearing. So far, I have not fully ground end mills (my box of “to be ground” is filling up more and more though). I have used both (and the surface grinder) to make specialty tools for the lathe & mill. They work very well for compound, precision angles.

I foresee, when I run out of end mills, that I will setup a “grinding session” and just do all of the dull cutters at once…

I will probably do a little write up on how it went and lessons learned.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top