# end mill sharpening



## john mullen (May 4, 2014)

anyone have a simple way to sharpen end mills?  I can't justify the cost of the sharpeners I am seeing on the e/pay. I don't mind sending them out for sharpening just don't like the turnaround time   Anyone made a home made sharpening tool for end mills.


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## Terrywerm (May 4, 2014)

You might want to get a copy of the book "Milling. A Complete Course" by Harold Hall. It is part of the 'Workshop Series' and is available on Amazon and a few other places. In that book he has plans for a sharpening system that will allow you to sharpen your own end mills. I don't know if it allows sharpening only the ends, or if it sharpens the sides too. His dimensions are all metric, but converting them over isn't too bad if you need to do that. I do not yet have a copy myself, but it is on my list of books to get.


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## john mullen (May 4, 2014)

Thanks for the information Mr. Wormie  Ill look at the local library first and see if  they might have it ..John


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## Don B (May 5, 2014)

terrywerm said:


> You might want to get a copy of the book "Milling. A Complete Course" by Harold Hall. It is part of the 'Workshop Series' and is available on Amazon and a few other places. In that book he has plans for a sharpening system that will allow you to sharpen your own end mills. I don't know if it allows sharpening only the ends, or if it sharpens the sides too. His dimensions are all metric, but converting them over isn't too bad if you need to do that. I do not yet have a copy myself, but it is on my list of books to get.



 The grinding fixture in these plans do allow you to sharpen the sides of the end mill, it's a simple design but well worth looking into.

Depending on how much work you want to get into here's a different option "Bonelle Tool and Cutter Grinder" 

Bonelle Tool and Cutter Grinder Pictures and Drawings

Also you might want to look around for "Brooks-Stent Tool & Cutter Grinder" I'm fairly curtain the plans are free for that as well  )

Don


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## DMS (May 5, 2014)

There was a series in HSM about an updated design for the Brooks grinder by Gadgetbuilder. I have those set aside for my own build. You could also take a look at BillGrubby's recent build of a T&C grinder (project of the month this month)

If you want simple, take a look at the Tinker, or Mini tinker grinders. I think they only do the ends though.


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## Don B (May 5, 2014)

DMS said:


> If you want simple, take a look at the Tinker, or Mini tinker grinders. I think they only do the ends though.



This is a good idea, I had forgotten about the Tinker, this was one of the ones I had considered for myself, if I remember correctly there's a set of castings available for the larger one but it can be built from bar stock as well, I think the larger version is capable of grinding the sides of end mills.:thinking:


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## Andre (May 5, 2014)

I made one to sharpen the ends, out of a dremel drill press, craftsman grinder/buffer arbor and a TV stand/swivel. If you want pics let me know.

Great results, and you can tailor the relief for different materials. Cant do flutes though.


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## Don B (May 6, 2014)

Andre said:


> I made one to sharpen the ends, out of a dremel drill press, craftsman grinder/buffer arbor and a TV stand/swivel. If you want pics let me know.
> 
> Great results, and you can tailor the relief for different materials. Cant do flutes though.



Not my thread but I'd like to see the picture, I enjoy seeing how people use what's at hand to get the job done, to me that really is the quintessential definition/description of a Home Shop Machinist.)


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## Andre (May 6, 2014)

Don B said:


> Not my thread but I'd like to see the picture, I enjoy seeing how people use what's at hand to get the job done, to me that really is the quintessential definition/description of a Home Shop Machinist.)




I'll set it up and take a pic (hopefully, you know how that goes...) tonight. Need one sharpened anyway.


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## Andre (May 6, 2014)

Better yet, a video...

[video=youtube;YWRjnS7Is14]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWRjnS7Is14[/video]


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## Don B (May 7, 2014)

Andre said:


> Better yet, a video...



Great stuff...!  your getting the job done with with what you had at hand, thank you very much for posting that.)


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## john mullen (May 7, 2014)

That's what I call simple and it gets you by if you do not need to sharpen the flutes...Thanks for the video..John


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## george wilson (May 7, 2014)

Many years ago,when I had no other way of sharpening end mills or horizontal mill cutters,I rigged up a way to do them in my Atlas 12" lathe. I had a Tom Thumb model Dumore tool post grinder(no great shakes!). I rigged up a finger to rest the flutes on,and with the tool post grinder in the compound,I was able to grind end mills by carefully moving the carriage sideways,while the finger under the end mill pushed the spiral flute upwards as it was ground. With the spindle as light as it was in the Atlas lathe,with the belt slacked off,I was able to effectively and accurately sharpen my cutters. The lathe was covered up,of course,while grinding.

If you ever see a Tom Thumb tool post grinder for sale,do not buy it. They have bronze bearings,and I never got mine to do a good job of grinding shafts. (It sharpened cutters o.k..) There were other factors,of course,and the lathe was too light as well. Now I have a Themac,which I consider one of the best tool post grinders out there. It does a great job.


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## Smudgemo (May 7, 2014)

Don B said:


> The grinding fixture in these plans do allow you to sharpen the sides of the end mill, it's a simple design but well worth looking into.
> 
> Don



Another Harold Hall book of note is Tool and Cutter Sharpening (Workshop Practice Series #38) where he has an alternate set of plans for a less complicated grinding rest than terrywerm and Don refer to.  That book also covers sharpening pretty much anything we'd use in a home shop including wood tools like chisels and plane blades.  That said, I have the more complicated version on my 'to-do' list because it seems like a more useful tool when you figure out how to use it.  Mr. Hall covers a wide variety of accessories for these rests as well.

-Ryan


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## Andre (May 7, 2014)

Don B said:


> Great stuff...!  your getting the job done with with what you had at hand, thank you very much for posting that.)



Your very welcome. Glad you could get something out of it.


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## john mullen (May 7, 2014)

terrywerm said:


> You might want to get a copy of the book "Milling. A Complete Course" by Harold Hall. It is part of the 'Workshop Series' and is available on Amazon and a few other places. In that book he has plans for a sharpening system that will allow you to sharpen your own end mills. I don't know if it allows sharpening only the ends, or if it sharpens the sides too. His dimensions are all metric, but converting them over isn't too bad if you need to do that. I do not yet have a copy myself, but it is on my list of books to get.[/Q
> 
> 
> I got the book MILLING A COMPLETE COURSE by HEAROLD HALL today and it covers a good deal of info for the start up machinist. lots of ideas I will use. thanks  terrywerm....John


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## Andre (May 7, 2014)

Also, I messed up and gashed the end of my endmill today on the dremel sharpener trying something new. Usually I use the side of the cutoff wheel (not meant to be used for usual cutting operations) but I used the front of the wheel (actual supposed cutting surface) and made a gouge in the end. So I went over to the grinder to try and freehand it. A bit tricky but once you get the trick of it it's not hard. It worked well. Not for precise milling, (I'd use a new endmill for more precise work) but for roughing it left an acceptable finish.

Should I do a video on freehand sharpening of endmills (and reamers?)


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## Grendel (Mar 24, 2021)

I just bought an arc eurotrade EMG-12 end mill sharpener, not cheap, but I get my HSS end mills second hand on ebay, and it does a good job, even with ones previously hand sharpened, it doesnt do the side flutes, just the ends, and it certainly isnt cheap, but I managed to get a complete one on ebay under £500, I know I could buy a lot of end mills for that money, but now I can keep resharpening the ones I have and am always guaranteed a good sharp tool.


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## Grendel (Mar 25, 2021)

I was using mine last night, to sharpen a bunch of end mills that I had bought off ebay that had arrived the day before, I got about 25 of the 37 I had bought sharpened in the space of about an hour, this machine is so simple to set up and use, requiring no special skill to set the mill in the correct place for the specially shaped grinding disc that comes with all the specific features pre located for the machne, you set the mill height in the collar using a depth stop, then flip it over and set the collar in the holder using a guide to get the edge orientation correct to the holder then just insert the holder into 3 preset holes, turning it once for 2 flute, twice for 3 flute and 3 times for 4 flute in each hole, the holder being especially machined to fit just one way on the hole per flute, and thats it done, all your teeth are the same depth and all sharp.


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## Grendel (Mar 25, 2021)

Heres the sharpener I have and the end result


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## hman (Mar 25, 2021)

Just for fun ...
ArcEuro Trade - £625 ~$860 (plus shipping)  https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Cata...g-Module/EMG-12-End-Mill-Re-Sharpening-Module
Alibaba $1000 https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...700.pc_countrysearch.main07.66.d459579brbQoI4
Amazon $1999 https://www.amazon.com/Huanyu-Re-sharpening-Re-sharpener-Grinder-Grinding/dp/B074TDW4L4?th=1


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## Grendel (Mar 26, 2021)

yes, they are not cheap, but their performance is excellent, to my mind they would be an excellent purchase for a engineering hobby club to have in the clubhouse, so members could bring their end mills in to resharpen, a small donation in the pot, and it would soon pay for itself.
for an individual with a home hobby shop, not as good value for money as you could buy a lot of new end mills for the money, it is only good up to 1/2", so definitely in the hobby mill range.


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## Janderso (Mar 26, 2021)

The arceuro looks kind of like the Apollo lunar module.
If I was going to spend that much I'd go with the u2 universal grinder. Then you have a platform that is much more versatile. IMHO sir.


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## Grendel (Mar 26, 2021)

I will grant you that, but here in the UK they seem to be like rocking horse droppings, not easy to find,  plus I like the fact that the arc eurotrade machine takes all of the effort out of setting up the cutter, but variety is what makes the world go around, this came available on ebay at the right time and price so I snapped it up. now I have yesterdays ebay purchase of 41 end mills to go finish sharpening.


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## Janderso (Mar 26, 2021)

Grendel said:


> takes all of the effort out of setting up the cutter


You are right about that. It only takes me half an hour to sharpen a two flute end mill. I'm getting better.


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## Grendel (Mar 26, 2021)

I can do a 2, 3 or 4 flute cutter in about 3 minutes or less.


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## Janderso (Mar 26, 2021)

You should be selling your process. 
Raise your hand-How many of you have dull end mills??


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## Grendel (Mar 26, 2021)

shipping to the uk and back will be the killer.


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## Grendel (Mar 26, 2021)

I will have to do a quick video


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## Grendel (Mar 27, 2021)

here we go quick video as promised


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