Carbide gloat

[DEVILHUNTER]

A few months ago I got hired in a high precision machining company that makes parts for the aerospace industry. Although getting a job, on one hand, on my field of study, and, on the other hand, our hobby, is a gloat on it's own, I had to move far from my shop. That's why I have been some time without posting projects.

When I say high precision, I really mean HIGH precision. We have parts with tolerances of 0.1 micrometers (4 millionths of an inch). Point is that we waste a lot of carbide like new. When the tools don't reach the required tolerances, they get thrown right away. So I asked, and they let me dig on the scrap carbide bin.



This is around 1% of what there where in the bin after this months. Small defects on the flutes or the tips, some ones are still perfect on sight, some others still in the wax. They are all high cuality carbide and for exotics materials like titanium, hardened steels and iconel.

I think I will have endmills for a while.

[bob_s]

Hope that you will properly catalog your collection!

Other than that, your good fortune has created a requirement to recalibrate the "you suck-ometer"!

[chipmaker4130]

Truly, thou suckest!

[Tony Ennis]

Congratulations that you suck!

[alanganes]

Wow, that is a really nice job benefit. Nobody would hire me to do work like that! Congratulations on the interesting new job and the nice collection of tooling!

[KiddZimaHater]

I once worked for a large corporation that had a special division that machined plastics.
They would use Carbide end mills and lathe tools for the plastics, and when they started getting a built-up edge on them, they would toss them!!
HA!
Needless to say, I also have a large collection of Carbide end mills and mini boring bars.

[Dan Dubeau]

Nice haul.

We generally toss anything 3/8" and under as it's not really worth resharpening them. I'm really surprised they tossed some of the bigger ones. Although I do know some shops that don't allow regrinds.....

[BigMike782]

But do you have a nice drill chuck to run them in
That's a nice haul of suckage.

[DEVILHUNTER]

I don't even have a drill chuck in working condition for my mill!

I think now I have to build a tool and cutter grinder to make custom endmills!

[old mart]

Fantastic luck, get them in tubes before they get chipped.

[boslab]

To us mere mortals the antics of companies making aerospace and the like befuddles us, I've seen some extraordinary stuff in the bin, as a visitor I certainly wasn't allowed to route about, I would have loved too, a couple of endmills is inconsequential to them, when I spoke to the guy in charge each parts cost factored in half a dozen cutters!, some took them too, most didn't so that was deemed as "hidden profit"
In the steel industry I've seen similar waste, I bought a mill off them that was purchased to make one part, OK several of the same thing then scrapped as it was too small to keep, the space was more valuable than the machine?
Thier loss (I don't think they make loss) is your gain, sorry you had to move away but needs must
Hope the work is interesting enough to compensate.
Mark

[lakeside53]

Nice haul.

We generally toss anything 3/8" and under as it's not really worth resharpening them. I'm really surprised they tossed some of the bigger ones. Although I do know some shops that don't allow regrinds.....

Most in the OP pic are coated. That's where regrinds just don't work out if you are to maintain the exact original performance.

[Dan Dubeau]

Most in the OP pic are coated. That's where regrinds just don't work out if you are to maintain the exact original performance.

Most grind shops now are able to re coat, or send them out for it. We don't use many coated cutters, but the grind shop we use offers coating/recoating for a pretty reasonable charge.