Sharpening Ball-nose

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Clockman
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Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by Clockman »

Hi, does anyone know if I can get tapered ballnose cutters sharpened in the UK, I have some Whiteside and Yonico 1/16 inch cutters that need the tip sharpening, the Whiteside bits are over £50 each so not cheap to keep replacing

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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by GEdward »

I have had some experience with a couple of tool and cutter grinders sharpening end mills; one being a manual K O Lee grinder and the other a CNC. The geometry of a tapered ball nose end mill is pretty complex and when you get down that small the set up time alone would make it cost prohibitive IMHO.
I use small tapered ball nose quite a lot and I don't pay near that much for them. I have had good luck with the inexpensive Chinese carbide products which run about $25 for a 5 pack. If you are willing to try a metric equivalent they can be had even cheaper. Take a look at this variety pack as an example: https://www.amazon.com/Package-Assorted ... 05&sr=8-13

Ed

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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by TReischl »

+1 on GE's suggestion.

Been using them for a few years now and am completely happy with them. What I really like is that they are so inexpensive it is easy to have several spares on hand.

I run a porter cable router for a spindle. I finally bought metric collets for it so I could use the inexpensive metric bits. Since I am an old curmudgeon it has taken me a while to transition into metric. It has been worth it. I still run the machine in imperial units though. Just do not feel like fiddling around getting everything reconfigured. That is what is another nice feature of Aspire, we can use metric tooling and run in imperial units.
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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by Xxray »

Quality tools are never cheap, they are consumables so should be replaced by another quality tool when their life cycle is expired.

I personally would not recommend or even touch chinese made bits or tools in general.
Doug

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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by martin54 »

To be honest it will probably cost as much or more to get them sharpened & the other problem you will then have is that they will no longer be the stated size. You would then need to enter them as different bits using the new sizing, could lead to all sorts of problems if you weren't careful :lol: :lol:

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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by Leo »

I will also agree with the inexpensive cutters noted by GE.

I have used tons of the "quality" cutters in my career in industry. I have also tried the inexpensive cutters on brass in my home shop. I am quite impressed with the inexpensive cutters, and I do use them in my home shop.
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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by Beltramidave »

I have not used any of the inexpensive 'Chinese' cutters, but wouldn't be opposed to giving some a try. Any recommendations for tapered ball nose sets, metric or imperial??
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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by Leo »

Look up Drillman1 on EBAY
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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by Clockman »

Thank you all for the replies, Martin I did know that if they could be sharpened that the size would be different but it would not make a lot of difference in my case, 3d clipart finish cut, I think I will try some Chinese bits and see how they go, I don't like buying cheap, but I think I will not know until I try, Leo I am going to look up Drillman 1 on Ebay, another thing I noticed is the bits are showing a radius instead of a measurement, so what radius would I look for to be close to 1/16 inch, as I seem to get the finish I like with that size

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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by GEdward »

1/16 diameter is .0625 and .75mm radius is 1.5mm diameter which is very close to .060 diameter ( 0.059055 to be exact ). The nice part about the variety pack I suggested is that you can experiment, at a reasonable cost, with them and find the best balance between detail and machining time that works for you and your particular project.

Ed

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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by Rcnewcomb »

If you are in the UK you can use this search for ebay.uk: tapered ballnose set

As of the beginning of September 2020 it looks like the set costs just under £40, although some sellers have them for around £13 to £18
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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by Clockman »

GEdward wrote:
Sat Sep 05, 2020 3:01 pm
1/16 diameter is .0625 and .75mm radius is 1.5mm diameter which is very close to .060 diameter ( 0.059055 to be exact ). The nice part about the variety pack I suggested is that you can experiment, at a reasonable cost, with them and find the best balance between detail and machining time that works for you and your particular project.

Ed
Thank's for that explanation GE, and yes it does make sense to experiment with the variety pack which I will do

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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by Clockman »

Leo wrote:
Sat Sep 05, 2020 1:39 pm
Look up Drillman1 on EBAY
I found Drillman1 and I have ordered one bit from him to try, he is also based in the US which is not ideal as regards postage and time, but I will try and build up a supply so I will always have some in stock

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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by martin54 »

Clockman wrote:
Sat Sep 05, 2020 7:32 pm
Leo wrote:
Sat Sep 05, 2020 1:39 pm
Look up Drillman1 on EBAY
I found Drillman1 and I have ordered one bit from him to try, he is also based in the US which is not ideal as regards postage and time, but I will try and build up a supply so I will always have some in stock
He didn't use to ship to the UK so not sure how long he has been doing that. The only way you are going to get them from a UK supplier is if you find a Chinese seller who already has stock in the UK but be aware there are a lot who say they have but when you order all of a sudden it takes weeks to arrive :lol: :lol:
I normally buy a few at a time, I have from 0.5mm up to 4mm tapered, really depends what size the 3D work you are doing is. If you have a few different sizes then you don't have to worry about not being able to get enough detail on a smaller job or worry about the time it's taking on a larger job where you could use a larger bit :lol:

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Re: Sharpening Ball-nose

Post by Clockman »

Yes Martin he is shipping to the UK now, I only have 2 colletts at the moment for my makita router 1/4 and 1/8 inch, no metric yet as they are hard to find, so I am limited as to what bits I can buy, so my next upgrade will be to get a spindle and a set of metric colletts

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