Where to buy HSS end mills?

R

raferguson

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I would have thought that this would turn up on search, but it did not. One post I looked at mentioned the dearly departed Enco. ;-). I am sure that there is a useful post somewhere, but I did not find it. I would happily accept a link on the forum.

What I am looking for is 1/4 inch end mills, probably with 1/4 inch shank, about 1 inch cutting length. I would have thought that this would be easy, but it was not.

Amazon sets up search with carbide tooling, and I could not get to HSS material, for some reason. I had to answer lots of questions before I got to HSS, but even answering those would not let me select HSS.

Little machine shop has them, but with 3/8 inch shank, for $6 each.

Ebay has them 5 for $12, but how do I know if they are any good? Are there particular Ebay sellers that carry decent end mills and other equipment? One source claimed that they have carbide bits for that price, which seems a little hard to believe.......

Presumably I could order from Grainger or MSC, and pay too much.

I do not need top quality. I do not need them right away, just noticed that I did not have one, presumably because I broke it........ I am posting on the beginner forum for a good reason. ;-)

Once I can figure out where to go I will probably order some other sizes.

Thanks in advance,
Richard
 
Some of us cheap folks...

Look for machinery dealers, many have a used area where they sell off stuff they get in trade.

Can get decent stuff for good price.

Estate sales also can be good, recent haul was over 120 drill bit packets, most never opened of mostly number sizes, for 90 bucks or so.

Mattthemuppet not spelled right member, often sells stuff and gets good reviews.



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I got some from Aliexpress for only a couple bucks each with 1/4" shanks. Not the highest quality but fine for hobby use
I got some 1/8" and some 3/16". I'm sure they had 1/4" also but I needed the smaller ones.

Estate sale lots on Ebay can be good bargains too
 
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Buying from McMaster-Carr isn't paying too much, it's getting the item you need delivered on time, and knowing that if it isn't right they will make it so.

That said, wait around long enough and some retired machinist will load you up with so much stuff you'll need to put some into the pass-around-box.

John
 
All that said, my co-worker was about to place an order for a single 5/16" carbide end mill from McMaster for $89 and I stopped him last week. I brought in a nice selection of HSS, Cobalt and Carbide from the afore mentioned box of stuff and he realized that he meant to spec Cobalt, not Carbide.

John
 
i buy large lots one eBay and at auction. You get a deal but a bunch of stuff you will never use. I once bought 500 lbs. of HSS for just a few bucks, all freshly resharpened. The big guys don't want odd size end mills. Gave away over half of this to friends.

Now i am always needing one special one - McMaster is my go to source. You will not find another company that can match their quality and service.

Red line tools is another great place to go
 
My two thoughts:

1) send a private message to user @mattthemuppet2 to see if he has what you need.
He picked up a huge load of stuff at an auction:
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/what-did-you-buy-today.55645/post-905242
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/what-did-you-buy-today.55645/post-905540
....and has been distributing out to members in good lots at great prices:
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/what-did-you-buy-today.55645/post-960528
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/what-did-you-buy-today.55645/post-964601
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/what-did-you-buy-today.55645/post-964792


2) My local new/used tool place has an ebay store, many people here have bought from them, and even the big things were packaged and shipped properly. The store is Cardon Tools near Perth, Ontario. The ebay selling name is "jrwood". It is a great small family-run business.

I have no financial interest in the place, but I do want them to prosper and survive.
Full disclosure: Both of my sons did work there for summer jobs before finishing school and starting their careers.

Here's the results of a search I just did for "HSS end mills" from them:
https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_nkw...&_saslop=1&_sasl=jrwoodca&LH_SpecificSeller=1

Here's the results of a search for "HSS end mills 1/4" ":
https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_fro...nd+mills&_fss=1&LH_SpecificSeller=1&_saslop=1

Most are new-old stock (NOS) from quality manufacturers

Brian
 
Ive had great success getting tooling from machinery liquidators and scrapyards. Some of the tooling at scrapyards is spent but I have found a great deal that was serviceable or even unused. In the case of HS tool bits its a simple sharpening op. Recently found a 3/4"solid carbide boring bar it even had a good insert came out to 11 bucks.
 
I'm surprised you can't find good HSS end mills in 1/4". That is the ubiquitous 80% AR completion tool, available widely. You can buy name brand HSS in that size for good prices because it's so common. IIRC, the last one I bought new was an OSG and cost $15.

I've done good buying lots because I can sharpen, but I am limited on how small I can go by the radius of my CBN flaring cup wheel's edge, which cannot be dressed, making 1/4 the functional bottom end of what I can sharpen, and I can only sharpen center cutting 2 and 3 flute mills, four flutes with gash relief lose their plunging ability, which is something I usually want in a 1/4" cutter. Also, grab bags can be full of garbage (it is another man's scrap, after all) and sometimes you end up with tooling that is only useful once in a blue moon. A lot of those mills, especially roughers, are usually flute sharpened so thin that even the geometry of the cutting edge is off spec. When it comes to workhorse end mills, you have to pay- I'm talking common sizes, 3/4, 1/2, roughers, anything that is on your first line of tooling is also everybody else's first line of tooling, so you have to compete, and new becomes the better option.

For example, I'm starting to believe that 3/4 carbide 4-flute standard finishers and roughers are appealing at around $50 on eBay, because I'd have to buy $500 worth of dumpster lots to find something half as good, or $150 on the tool via retail.
 
I'd think a 1/4" end mill with 1" cutting length would be quite easy to break ---
 
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