[Newbie] Are these end mills junk or can they be reground?

[kilohertz]

I just bought a small Atlas MFB and it came with good used tooling, but also some well used or abused tooling. I am just learning about machining and don't know if these can be ground back to a usable condition or do these go into the bin. I have quite a few to go through and don't want to keep them if they are trash.

Could someone please let me know if these are at all re-usable? I put in 5 of various damage as an example.

Thank you.

cheers

 

[mmcmdl]

I would trash them as end mills , but keep them for grinding up other tools . I never throw anything away that can be re-purposed such as the above .

 

[kilohertz]

I would trash them as end mills , but keep them for grinding up other tools . I never throw anything away that can be re-purposed such as the above .

Thanks for the quick reply. Could you please give me an example of how I could use them? As mentioned, I'm learning machining late in life and this is all new to me.

Thank you.

 

[markba633csi]

Wow, looks like somebody really inexperienced was using those-or trying to
You could perhaps make crude boring bars out of a couple of them, and possibly internal threading tools
All you need is a bench grinder and some patience

 

[mmcmdl]

HSS will cut most anything . Those mills can be ground into boring bars , form tools , whatever else that comes to mind and may come in handy when needed .

 

[projectnut]

To answer your original question YES they can be reground. I bought a dozen 1" 4 flute HSS mills in similar condition for $.99 each when I wanted to learn how to sharpen them on my surface grinder. I built a fixture to sharpen the peripheral cutting edges and had a commercial one to do the ends.

The reality of it is as mmcmdl said it really isn't worth it to send them to a grinding service, or even do it yourself unless you're using them to refine your technique. The'll probably end up several sizes smaller before the nicks can be removed and you may all but eliminate the flute.

 

[C-Bag]

I had several in that and worse condition when I bought my mill/drill. They made great practice pieces when I bought an endmill sharpening machine. I was able to get them all back to service, but it was some work. Some of them are short now but have had their uses. It’s nice to have a selection.

No job shop would waste their time on them. If you have the resources to sharpen them I’ve gotten them for free out of their scrap bucket.

 

[sdelivery]

The end cutting faces are not usable but the peripheral surface still looks usable.
I am with the opinion that these are still usable for other functions and shouldn't be thrown away.

 

[kilohertz]

Just turned on the heater in the shop and will head back out shortly to start going thru all the goodies I bought on the weekend. I have a really nice Kennedy machinists chest to load up....may need another one.

OK I will put the damaged mills in their own place for future use and learning, of which there will be lots happening this year. I just bought an Atlas MFB and it came with some tooling which I just starting to sort out, it was all put into multiple boxes so there is lots to go thru.

Thank you for the help. I need to do a lot more reading and learning before I fire up the mill. I didn't take any machine shop classes in high school (which was a l o n g time ago) so I am learning now as an almost senior.

cheers

 

[mmcmdl]

First off , Welcome aboard . Second , we all love pics and look forward to seeing your progress . Stay warm !