End Mill Care & Storage

And don't expect too much of an edge on the ones without wax. They've been used since their last sharpening.

Hmm ... I've never done anything special with HSS end mills and have never seen rust.

As for storage -- spares go in drawers with wax -- or in original shipping tubes if you have them. (You can set up wax with a hot pot and some convenient wax. I've been saving the wax from Gouda cheese for quite a while, and it works well. For the heavier ones, do a dip, let it cool, then another dip -- adding more as the mill gets heavier.

The daily users go sharp end up in a wooden bock drilled with Fostner (or brand point) wood bits (so you have a flat-bottomed hole) each shank in holes drilled as a nice fit as you can.

You can use pine 2x4s -- or some hardwoods -- but avoid oak, which has a bit of acid in its material. Maybe use 4x4s for the longer ones.

Enjoy, DoN.

spray some oil on them and store in small boxes in drawers.

i

I have a drawer with 1/2" dowels glued in across the bottom. The end mills lay between the dowels like hotdogs at the bowling alley. They don't bang around and are easy to keep sorted.

I either leave them in their tubes (new ones come in boxes or tubes)

Or I put them in drilled holes in 1" thick plastic plates I make up whenever I get yet another batch of them

One would think that storing them in drilled plywood would work pretty well also. They simply need to be stored so their cutting edges are not banging into each other or able to get wet/rusty.

One could not be a successful Leftwinger without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of Leftwingers, a goodly number of Leftwingers are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid. Gunner Asch

I got these $35 plastic things from one of the usual tool distributors. it is a black plastic molding with a bunch of holes in it. You could make the same thing from a slab of wood and drilling rows of holes in it, just to give an idea of what it is. it has a clear plastic cover over the top. So, I have one for all the small end mills, 1/8' up to

1/2", and another for the 5/8, 3/4, etc. sizes. I also got one for R8 collets and end mill holders.

Jon

Thanks everyone.

I had been considering custom wood holder idea, but wasn't sure,because I thought all wood had at least a little acid.

I have five drawers I'll bee using in my custom work bench, so since I already have all the materials I'll try drilling holes to make wood holders inside one of the drawers.

(As for the wax from Gouda cheese, I assume that the cheese is wrapped in some sort of wax, correct?).

Thanks.

Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.

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Well ... cheap pine 2x4 seems to have little enough to not be a problem.

O.K.

Yes -- typically an oversized doorknob (about 4" to 5" diameter) with no stem, and coated with wax (typically red). Larger chunks of Gouda are available cut from larger versions of the doorknob and then shrink-wrapped or something similar (depending on your particular grocery store). I like the small doorknobs because it is closer to what I will eat in two sessions (not long enough for them to start sprouting mould) and the ratio of wax surface area to cheese volume is better.

I peel the wax off each slice, and tuck it in a Ziploc baggie until I have enough, then I melt them in a soup can on the stove (gas burner on very low) and when it is all melted, I pour it into a plastic container which already has more wax from previous runs. Eventually, I pop it out of the plastic container and cut off a chunk large enough for the task and re-melt for dipping tools. It helps to have some kind of tool for gripping the rather hot can full of melted wax for the pouring.

When you melt, any bits of cheese also melt and gather at the bottom of the can and solidify, so you have to scrape out the bottom of the can every so often. However, this keeps other things from contaminating the wax.

Obviously, other sources are possible too. You could buy blocks of paraffin wax from the canning section of the grocery store, but since I like Gouda I save and re-use the wax. Edam is similarly packaged, if you prefer that.

Or -- just save the stubs of candles, if you use those, and melt down for future use. I think that the paraffin is a bit brittle, so something to soften it (say some beeswax) could be mixed in.

For that matter -- melt in some camphor and it will slowly sublime in the tool drawers and coat the metal surfaces to protect from corrosion. Small chunks of camphor in the toolboxes are good as well.

Enjoy, DoN.

If one goes to just about any Indian (East Indian) grocery store, they sell boxes of camphor blocks that are perfect for putting in the drawers of just about any tool box. Ive been doing it for years (Dad was a watchmaker).

A box of camphor blocks..20 IRRC..is less than $8

Gunner

One could not be a successful Leftwinger without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of Leftwingers, a goodly number of Leftwingers are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid. Gunner Asch