Vintage End Mill Brands?

G-ManBart

G-ManBart

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Hi all,

I did searches here and general Google searches without finding anything quite like this, so if I missed a thread, feel free to point me in the right direction.

I recently upgraded from a bench top mill to a Bridgeport 2J 2hp and want to add more sizes and types of end mills without breaking the bank. In the past I just bought new Niagara end mills off eBay since they were all smaller for the small mill, but that gets expensive quickly in the bigger sizes. If I have a specific project that calls for something particular in an end mill I'll bite the bullet and spend the money, but for most of what I do that's probably overkill.

Are there U.S. brands to look for that might be vintage or new old stock and good quality? There are so many listings on eBay it's hard to keep track, but some of the names I've seen that clearly show made in the U.S. are Cleveland Twist, Morse, Brubaker, Melin and Weldon. Any others I should keep an eye out for? Any to avoid?

There are a lot of machinery auctions here in the Detroit area so I'm keeping an eye on those, but want to be able to look at the stuff before bidding to make sure it's not just a box of worn out junk. I actually did that last week...went to a preview and the two boxes of end mills were fine, but nothing was smaller than 1.5" shank...the pictures were totally deceiving!
 
Craigs list and Facebook marketplace are a great way to pick up batches of end mills and cutters. Pretty much any vintage USA cutter is a good cutter... It's not unusual to pick up 100+ end mills on some of these deals. But, if you need a specific size by a specific time then eBay might be your answer and again any vintage USA made end mill should be high quality.

Ted
 
It’s easy enough to get a 1” or 1.25“ R8 tool holder for end mills bigger than the common R8 collet sizes.
 
Technical Ted said:
Craigs list and Facebook marketplace are a great way to pick up batches of end mills and cutters. Pretty much any vintage USA cutter is a good cutter... It's not unusual to pick up 100+ end mills on some of these deals. But, if you need a specific size by a specific time then eBay might be your answer and again any vintage USA made end mill should be high quality.

Ted
Click to expand...

Thanks, I was guessing anything made in the U.S. should be decent quality.

I've been watching FB Marketplace and CL as well. Lately what I've been seeing are the guys buying big lots at auction and then selling them in smaller lots or singles, so not quite as good a deal, but maybe still reasonable. My thought was to keep an eye on eBay for sizes/types I know I want and then if something comes up at auction, or FB/CL I can grab it as well.
 
Winegrower said:
It’s easy enough to get a 1” or 1.25“ R8 tool holder for end mills bigger than the common R8 collet sizes.
Click to expand...

Good point...didn't think of that at all. The lots I looked at started at maybe a 1.5" shank and went up a lot bigger than that, so I didn't even consider bidding on them. The funny thing was the pictures made them look much smaller! I walked right past them because rather than a box, they were in a crate...lol.
 
Putnum makes good endmills I have one where it says the name in nice cursive letters looks old but can’t find out how old
 
M.A. Ford cutting tools are made right here in Davenport Iowa.
 
G-ManBart said:
The funny thing was the pictures made them look much smaller! I walked right past them because rather than a box, they were in a crate...lol.
Click to expand...

When you are looking at auctions, especially industrial auctions, you need to be careful what you bid on/buy. Most items are moved via forklift. Recently there was a steady rest that went for 20-something dollars. It was on a pallet. 4'x4' at least. Oil country lathe.
And yes, you need to look carefully at the pics to get a size perspective.
 
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