Proprietary end mill?

[Janderso]

We have a key cutter that uses these special little 2.5mm end mills.
The key blanks are brass or some derivative there of.
They are F22’s
The shank is 6mm and the relief is 5.47mm ish.
They cut about 9-12 keys and must be replaced. They run about $35 each.
Any help?

 

[Flyinfool]

Are you breaking them or wearing them out? If you are braking them see if you can slow down the feed speed. If you are wearing them out you may have the HSS version. There is a solid carbide version available for around $50 each but may last a LOT longer and be cheaper in the long run.

 

[TomS]

We have a key cutter that uses these special little 2.5mm end mills.
The key blanks are brass or some derivative there of.
They are F22’s
The shank is 6mm and the relief is 5.47mm ish.
They cut about 9-12 keys and must be replaced. They run about $35 each.
Any help?View attachment 302299

Found these on eBay. Not exactly like yours as they don't have the undercut section. Maybe you could cut them down. https://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-2-5m...046465?hash=item3ccf3ef141:g:opIAAOSwFlNct-O7

 

[Janderso]

Are you breaking them or wearing them out? If you are braking them see if you can slow down the feed speed. If you are wearing them out you may have the HSS version. There is a solid carbide version available for around $50 each but may last a LOT longer and be cheaper in the long run.

They just stop cutting.
Haven't broken any as I recall.

 

[Janderso]

TomS.
That's a much better price but unfortunately they have to be the exact same length and they need the relief to fit into the slot in the Ilco cutter.
Pretty slick, an income stream after the sale.
#$%^&*!! Grr
You would think we could find a better quality end mill. 10 keys is just dumb.

 

[Latinrascalrg1]

Could you modify the machine chuck to accept a common end mill such as what TomS posted? If its possible for a decent price it would probably be the most effective use of your cash to help solve the problem.

 

[Flyinfool]

There are some places that make it in solid carbide and / or with various coatings to give a better wear life. They may cost $10-20 more but if they double or better the number of keys you can cut per tool then you are money ahead.

 

[Janderso]

Good question.
Now that's a possibility.
I'll check.
A guy could even grind off enough to allow the correct length or if you could buy them short enough????
The relief is not needed mechanically. It's just to make it a proprietary set up.

 

[Janderso]

TomS,
I apologize, I glanced at the end mill and price. I have seen those before. i can't remember if we tried them or not.
Worth a try.
Thanks

 

[Latinrascalrg1]

It looks as if the entire reason beyond making more money on the special cutter is to keep it inline with the corresponding tracer peg to the left which to me means, so long as the size and sickout is the same that "proprietary" crap is meaningless.....basically a way to "Idiot proof" their products operating process and setup.

Heck even a simple "spacer" collet cut to fit the proprietary on the od with a ID cut for smaller shaft endmill.