KO Lee Tool & Cutter Grinder

[JCHannum]

I just aquired a KO Lee Tool and cutter grinder, complete with air quill. I need manuals, instructions etc. for KO Lee. Also is there any good information available for sharpening end mills? I can find general info in Machinery's Handbook and some texts, but nothing very specific. Will pay copy costs, shipping, etc. Thanks for your help.

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Jim H.

[Randy]

I have a little K. O. Lee B-600 T&C grinder that I haven't used much yet since I don't have the attachments. Someday I intend to build Philip Duclos's air quill EM grinding fixture from HSM, Sept/Oct and Nov/Dec 1987. He has detailed instructions on its use which you should find helpful. Also, a good college machining textbook (e.g. Machine Tool Practices by Kibbe, Neely, Meyer & White) will have a chapter on tool sharpening. Finally, Norton abrasives has (or at least did have) a set of small books on all kinds of grinding jobs which are quite helpful. You can probably get them for free from your local Norton dealer.

P.S. Have you checked K.O. Lee's website:

http://www.kolee.com/

I at least got parts lists and diagrams for my unit there.

[This message has been edited by Randy (edited 11-24-2001).]

[JCHannum]

Thanks Randy. I have the Duclos book, and a few texts, but did not think af the obvious ie. the website, and Norton books sound helpful.

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Jim H.

[MikeHenry]

John Stevenson in the UK was recently selling reprints of two T&C grinder manuals on CD-ROM for $10, postage included. Email if you are interested and I'll pass along his email address.

Mike near Chicago

[JCHannum]

Thanks Mike, he contacted me, did you get the CD? The sample page on-line looks a little basic. I'm looking for info on set up, and reccomended clearance angles, etc. Have some info on grinding flutes, but nothing on ends on end mills, angle of concavity etc.

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Jim H.

[MikeHenry]

Seems pretty complete to me, but then that sort of thing always does until I try it myself.

[Tom Sheehy]

You might try Derex. They have a very nice booklet they provide with their endmill sharpener which provides the kind of info you are looking for. They have a toll free number and you can just call. There is also a lot of info in the Weldon cutting tool catalog regarding lands, angles, etc that would be helpfull. Check w/ your local dealer who sells Weldon tooling or call the factory and they'll send you one. Don't have their number handy but if you can't dind it send me an email and I'll look it up.

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TominPdx

[JCHannum]

Thanks Tom, I'll check them out.

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Jim H.

[spope14]

I have two KO Lee tool and cutter grinders in my school shop I teach at. I also have the air quill as well as too much other stuff to imagine. I do not have many manuals on this gear, but for the machine manuals. KO Lee sells these at a very reasonable price. As for tool grinding, I grind a lot of end mills as my students love to run them backwards and such in the beginning of the course (first year newbies). I was a tool grinder in my apprenticeship, so i have the "feel", but I still also use a very basic practice;

I sometimes get a brand new end mill - I have one or two on archive for each size. I indicate the drops, and use these masters for my angle setting and indication drop settings. I then apply what i need to the end mill size I am grinding, often using a "fully crashed one" (the ends too beat up to want to spend hours fixing, or chips out of the flutes) to set up my angles, then away I go.

There are some good books on this stuff as well, and i have some handouts with all the info needed. feel free to e-mail me, or reply, I can scan and send.

[buchanan]

I did tool and cutter grinding for a living as part of being a machinist for 25 plus years. End mill end clearance is 5 degrees primary angle, 15 degrees secondary angle, and a min. of 3 degrees of dish angle from out side of each cutting tooth to the center of the end mill end. This is so that just the outer most of the end mill end cutter tips will be doing the cutting. End mill side clearance is approx. 5 degrees primary angle and 15 degrees secondary angle. The reason I say approx. is that on small Dia. end mills the out side cutting circle is so small that 5 degrees is not anough clearange. To check side clearance - while end mill is in side grinding fixture rotate it under a indcator to check cutting tooth clearance drop. The use of Trig. at this time is really help full. A good rule of thumb that I use, which goes back to figuring the clearance on the circumferance on that little end mill, is 1 degree = .001 drop read off of the indicator per 1/16 of distance around the circum. Its a ratio. 1 degree = .0005 per 1/32 of circum., 5 degrees = .005 per 1/16 of circum.

I hope this is helpful and not to confusing.

Don't depend on new end mills to have the proper clearance in all the right places. If the new end mill doesn't cut right check all the clearance angles.

[kap pullen]

I was tought to have .005"( I think) drop off per 1/32 inch on the primary cutting angle, and .015" on the secondary angle.
For alum. more clearance can be used to allow higher feed rates.
We had cinn grinders and adjusted the finger height to get the proper clearance.
I used a chart but the old hands had it commited to memory.
Make the primary only 1/32 wide and you can regrind a couple times without touching the secondary.
kapullen

[JCHannum]

buchanan and kap,

Thanks to both of you. This is a help, I am getting with the program now, but most information deals with larger mills and milling cutters. As I will be working mostly with fractional cutters, this information is a big help.

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Jim H.