Grab Bag Full End Mills?

Kroll

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Guys I pick up box full end mills today,the quality is mix.Few I believe is new,some are still very sharp and some not so sharp.Some look like they were regrind by hand and some that is just dull and some are double ended which one end have been broken off.I know that I got way more than my moneys worth just by the ones that are new or look like never been used before so this leaves me with wondering what to do with the ones that broken off and ones dull.Do you trash them or hold on to them maybe repurpose them for something else.Most are HSS and there are some that says Cobalt 2%,some just say cobalt.My question is what to do with ones that I would say go in baggie and put in the drawer w/black hole?? What do you do with your end mills thats no longer any good?
 
I save them thinking I will grind them down and make something out of them. I never have.
 
I grind them to use elsewhere . Same as carbide shanks . :)
 
It took awhile of searching but I found a place that will give them a new loving home. If you wanna box them up and give me a pm I'll give you the address ;)
 
I have found some nice endmills by buying used lots. I do save the broken ones to make boring bars and other custom tools- all you need is a grinder and many custom shapes are possible. You need to be careful not to overheat the steel when grinding which ruins the temper
Mark
 
Yep, hang on to them. You can even send them out for resharpening some day if you want. I'd take a resharpened high quality cutter over a cheap import any day. Start using them and you'll see what I mean.

Glad you got your hands on some! :)

Ted
 
I save them. I've seen enough lathe tools made out of old end mills that I can't bring myself to discard them. HSS is HSS, after all.
 
I got a bunch of HSS end mills with my mill and my brother gave me a bunch. Most of them had problems. It's why I decided to buy a tool grinder. Not only was I able to save all of them I've ground a couple custom for different projects. And when I didn't have a 5/16" endmill I found an old oddball that I think was metric and used it to learn how to use my flute sharpening attachment and ground it to size.
 
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I have found some nice endmills by buying used lots. I do save the broken ones to make boring bars and other custom tools- all you need is a grinder and many custom shapes are possible. You need to be careful not to overheat the steel when grinding which ruins the temper
Mark
Temper of HSS tools is not effected by "overheating", you can heat HSS up red hot without effecting the hardness; what can happen, "they say" is that overheating can cause micro cracking of the cutting edge resulting in breakdown of the cutting edge, I have "overheated" tools in regrinding and never have noted any difference in cutting performance. If a tool shows color in regrinding, it should not be quickly cooled, that would likely cause cracking.
 
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