Endmill grinding - looking for a cheap option

Hi all, I need to be able to brighten up myself, a few cutters without having to spend lots of time making my own cutter grinder or spending hundreds of pounds on one or more importantly finding the additional space. I cannot really justify for the lower volume of cutters to be done.

Has anybody experimented using a similar method to this pls?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6WSAZtphQc4

Any input//comments or alternatives would be welcome.

Malc

Malc, where are you located ? Someone may be able to do a few for you occasionally.

**LINK**

 Apologies, just found out to add the direct link.

Malc

Edited By MalcB on 14/12/2015 10:17:59

Hi Chris, My location is Hyde, Cheshire.

Not sure I'd trust a dremel type grinding disk at 65,000 rpm!

Russell.

Malc,

If they are metric up to 12mm or 1/2" imperial (i need to make se more imperial holders) i could do them for you. I live close by.

I am out of the house just now bit I will send ypu a private message when i get home goving contact details.

Regards,

Bob

Russell - my thoughts are to use the Clarke extension die grinder with 3" x 1/16" or 1mm x 3/8" cut off discs. Max RPM is around 26,000. I would make block holder for tool post and mounting mandrel.

Bob - I am using HSS cutters up to about an inch diameter so emphasis is over rather than under 1/2" as these are most expensive to replace. Thanks for kind offer, it is appreciated and may take you up at some stage on a bit of "know how" if OK.

Malc

Someone let me have a few larger mills that have been butchered on the bottom in an attempt to sharpen them, wish I could get them reground as there's plenty of life left in them. There used to be companies around that reground stuff like this, are there any still around or is it too expensive?

When I was at work there where lots of local cutter grinding companies, most often one or two man outfits. With the rise of China and the demise of UK tool making and general engineering sadly most have shut their doors. Couple this with the lower cost of carbide as CNC mills need it more and regrinding of HSS is hard to get done. I have a friend with a cutter grinder who will let me use his machine but these kind of people are few and far between for most folk.

Malc, if you are contemplating grinding on the lathe anyway, I think a much better approach (based on using a Quorn and just starting to use my newly built Acute) would be to put a grinding wheel on the lathe spindle and make a holder for the mills to fit the tool post. You could get the relief angles by setting the height of the tool, with it held horizontal, so the curvature of the wheel sets the angle. I thought the setup you linked to looked rather primitive and the results shown on his blog looked dire, to be frank. But for larger end mills I'd have thought it should be possible to rig up a simple jig for your bench grinder using the principles of Harold Hall's designs, even if you don't build the whole thing. You might think about clamping the mill shank in a vee block for example?

There's a photo of a slot drill I sharpened in my thread on building the Acute which shows what can be achieved (and it was my first try!).

John, I have looked at Harold Halls set ups and thought about adapting a bench grinder., just before seeing this on YouTube.

I have two ER40 MT3 chucks so I have a spare that would be possible to adapt for this. I share a full set of collets ( 2-26mm) twixt VMC and a back plate mounted ER40 chuck on the Boxford.

My problem is I already have 4 x bench grinders that I use on a modular basis set up for different purposes. Each mounted on a 1" ply board contoured to lock into a set position nest on my workbench. Not sure about another one. Using a grinding wheel in the lathe is a no go really because of the much too slow spindle speeds on the Boxford, about 1500RPM max.

Vic,

Try ABBCO, located at Willmot Lane, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1ER. just by where "old" Myford used to be, that is where I get my large cutters reground. (Tel 0115 922 6060).

Thanks very much for that but I expect postage would be a deal breaker. I should look locally to see if I can find anything. Thanks again.

Vic you have PM.