End Mill Sharpening Fixture

[rossbotics]

I designed and built this tool for resharpening end mills on the surface grinder, I must have over 100 dull ones I'm sure, Anything under 3/8" in diameter I pitch when there dull, From 3/8" and above I use to send off and get reground, Anyone who does allot of milling will tell you that it's not very hard to wrap up a few hundred bucks worth of cutters in a heartbeat, So I decided to build a unit that would attach to the magnetic chuck on my surface grinder and make it more versatile.

The unit has a 5/8" thick 1018 steel base with a 2° angle machined left and right of the center line on one side of the base for grinding the fishtail on the end of the cutter and for sharpening the sides without interference from the other side of the cup wheel during side grinding.

All parts were made from 1018 steel, 1020 D.O.M. Tubing, O-1 Tool Steel and 6061 Alum. all 1018 steel parts were oil blackened except the base, The spindle was made from a piece 1020 D.O.M. tubing, It was machined to a very tight tolerance with a high polish finish, There is .0002" T.I.R on the spindles diameter from one end to the other, The spindle housing was bored in a 4 jaw chuck with a honed finish which is .0005" over the spindles diameter, They slide together like glass, There is a floating pull knob on the rear of the spindle which has 2 ball bearings, It has a spindle locking pin on the front of the housing for tightening the collets and a indexing collar on the rear for indexing up to 6 flutes, It can grind the primary and secondary clearance angles on the front or sides.

Allot of thought and work went into the making of this tool, And many hours to complete.


Below are some photos of the tool from assembly to the grinder.
As always thanks for looking and happy machining

Doug




Above- note the 2° angle on the side of the base plate



Above- note the slot in side of the vertical aluminum plate, that's for adjusting the spindle up and down for the primary or secondary grind.



Above- note the indexing and locking pins in the spindle housing.



Above- note the indexing collar



Above- end view of fixture showing stylus



Above- side view of tool



Above- other side



Above- on the grinder



Above- on the grinder



Close up on the grinder

[Paul Jones]

Doug,

"Wow" is the best way to describe your work and designs on this project. I have this one bookmarked so I can return and study the construction. There is a lot to learn from your excellent work.

Thank you, Paul

[C-Bag]

Incredible work. Congratulations on good design and beautiful execution.

I do a lot more work with the end of the mill than sides. So how would you set up your fixture to sharpen those angles?

[PJs]

Thank You Doug...Eye candy first thing! I agree with Paul & C-Bag...kind of run out of superlatives with your work. I also really enjoy seeing how you think, in approaching a project like this...and then there is the execution, Oh My. We can see all the hours and thought that went into this. I love button heads in a build!

Can you tell us about how long it takes to resharpen...say a 4 flute? Is that a ball end mill in the picture...does those too?

First Cabin...Just the best! ~PJ

[Jamman]

you think this will work on a rifiling button i am tring to make a button thinking on modifing a endmill Loooking for help

[rossbotics]

Jamman
This tool will sharpen the O.D. and the face of end mills, it was not designed to make special angles, tapers, etc. Would it not be easier just to buy a rifling button? But I have to give you credit for wanting to make something to do a job with, And that's what this site is all about, I have never seen a rifling button, So I really could not answer your question completely and 100%. It totally depends on what the tool looks like, send me a picture, maybe I can give you an idea !

Doug

[rossbotics]

Thank you for the compliment PJs, very much appreciated !
You can sharpen the ends and sides of a four flute end mill in about 15 minutes or less, the more I use it the faster I will become at setting it up and so on, you know it's like anything else, the more you use it the quicker you get

[rossbotics]

Thank You very much for your compliment C-Bag
The ends can be sharpened in just a couple of minutes, it doesn't take long at all, it does an incredible job

[Jamman]

do you know how much a rifling button cost believe me if i could afford one I would not be bugging people to build one besides this is home made tools not walmart I want to build one from strach why buy it if with a little effort knowledge and gumtion we can build our own does any one make stuff any more just go out and buy one why take the time to make your own????

[mikejr0046]

Rifling buttons are made from carbide not high speed steel. Get Hoffmans book on making rifled barrels.