Good place for sourcing end mills?

Hi Guys,

I must shamefully admit that I buy most of my "Slot Drills" both two and three flute from China. I've been very satisfied with the product I've received.
In fact I once got a couple marked "Yamaha".

But unless I actually need to machine a slot, I use the biggest that I can get into my ER32 collet chuck.

I don't have any carbide cutters.
 
Watch for the "estate sale" batches of endmills on ebay, I put together a nice collection of HSS mills, many brand new for less than 75$
Some of course will be dull but overall good value when you are starting out and might break/dull a few anyhow
Mark
ps I have also tried the cheap chinese ones from alibaba and they work but are easy to fracture- very brittle
 
Hi Mark,

Fortunately I've not had that experience. I've had the flute edges rubbed off when trying to machine SS. Horrible stuff...
 
Yeah, if I buy Chinese, it will have to be through someone reputable (Grizzly or LittleMachineShop) not ebay and definitely not shipping from China. I guess I'll go with this Colorado Mold Supply as my main/reliable set and perhaps some singles from Amazon. I'm easily looking at $500 for 10 ish tools. Once I have a decent set, I can afford the time to search ebay for the steal that comes along. I just don't have enough of a selection to wait it out..
 
Decent quality and good prices -- CDCO Machinery
Chinese tools shipped from IL.
 
If you are staying away from Ebay, and want American HSS, try going to Amazon and browse everything they have in stock from Niagara. Usually there are some pieces on sale. One advantage we have as hobbyists is that we only need a mill or two at a time, and frequently don't care much about the specific length.
 
You have not hinted at what material or milling operations you require.

This is like asking the questions, I need to buy a rock, which one?
Where is the cheapest place to buy a rock for unknown purposes?

 
You have not hinted at what material or milling operations you require.

This is like asking the questions, I need to buy a rock, which one?
Where is the cheapest place to buy a rock for unknown purposes?

Fair enough. Mostly mild steel, under an inch thick. Now that I have the lathe and the mill i see how many doors are open. I might build a space shuttle, albeit the crappiest space shuttle you've ever seen! There will be some aluminum and I will get a few one offs for that, but steel is my best friend for sure...good old hot rolled, mill scaled steel!
 
I did pick up a few things to get the ball rolling...I would recommend looking at these guy's catalog...they talk about the technology that goes into their tool designs...they may be my go to tool supplier...and I pass them everyday on the way to work!

Screenshot_2018-09-02-17-25-21.png
 
Back
Top