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Back in the day when I was making thousands of pens, I had at least four or five pen mills, and I would take them to a professional sharpener to get them done. I tried sharpening them myself, but it was very difficult to get all four cutters to the same height and keep them flat. For a couple of bucks they were done to perfection.
I don't know if this helps you any, but this is how I sharpened them. :cool2:
It's simple. I'm only touching the side of the wheel, not the front. Practice holding the mill to the wheel with the grinder off to get the feel of how it should be positioned. The mill should sit flat to the wheel. Remember the difference between dull and sharp is only a few thousandths of an inch. If the mill is getting hot, you are grinding too much.
Sharpening the flat face is better than trying to sharpen the curved face. You don't need ot worry about height that way. I am trying to find out if it is ok to send you a couple tutorials on sharpening pen mills. As soon asI hear back, I will let you know and send them if possible.
I just use a diamond file and take a couple of strokes along each cutter. Takes less than a minute and their is little risk of over doing it like you might with a grinder. It doesn't take much to sharpen them.
I also just use a small diamond hone -- the kind with a plastic handle. I work the flat face and I may also carefully touch up the bevel with the fine grit hone. I think that using a grinding wheel is far too aggressive.
Bill
UPDATE: I have not tried my TORMEK to sharpen end mills, but I suspect that it would work well and the amount of metal removal could be easily controlled.
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