End mill price, are they getting out of control? Does anyone have experience with low cost country sourced end mills?

[Freedommachine]

Onlinecarbide.com is where I buy most of mine. They are a US manufacturer and they grind most of their tools in house. The drills drop ship from monster drill though. Good enough quality and prices that I cannot complain about.

I use a lot of their 1/4" and 3/16" variable helix end mills, I get most of my drills and spot drills through them as well.

 

[???]

I purchase my cutters in quantities from a Chinese supplier that I have known for years, they supply the medical industry in Australia with cutting tools. I have shared the supplier with some in private messages, but anyone that acts like an ahole definitely doesn't get a contact.

If there was a level playing field I would support a quality local product however this is not the case. I needed some 5mm 3 flute end mills with a 0.5 mm corner rad. Local supplier and they squealed like a pig, went with the Chinese which flew through the job. When I queried the shit grind and squealing with the supplier he said you are one of those difficult clients, my response was you mean the ones that expect to get what they paid for.

 

[Freedommachine]

I purchase my cutters in quantities from a Chinese supplier that I have known for years, they supply the medical industry in Australia with cutting tools. I have shared the supplier with some in private messages, but anyone that acts like an ahole definitely doesn't get a contact.

If there was a level playing field I would support a quality local product however this is not the case. I needed some 5mm 3 flute end mills with a 0.5 mm corner rad. Local supplier and they squealed like a pig, went with the Chinese which flew through the job. When I queried the shit grind and squealing with the supplier he said you are one of those difficult clients, my response was you mean the ones that expect to get what they paid for.

You probably expect them to be on size and flutes concentric with the shank too don't ya?

 

[alek95]

Onlinecarbide.com is where I buy most of mine. They are a US manufacturer and they grind most of their tools in house. The drills drop ship from monster drill though. Good enough quality and prices that I cannot complain about.

I use a lot of their 1/4" and 3/16" variable helix end mills, I get most of my drills and spot drills through them as well.

They have amazing prices for full-form thread mills.

The only problem is that their thread mills are all long DOC. Really wish they would offer 2xD or similar.

 

[???]

You probably expect them to be on size and flutes concentric with the shank too don't ya?

Actually they are, probably because I don't buy stuff off Ali express but direct from a manufacturer running the latest equipment. I dial in every cutter that I set up to within .01mm or better TIR on the flutes, this way I don't have to worry about dialing in hole sizes. Just in case you don't know all carbide tooling is .03mm under size, the blank is size and something has to come off to get a sharp cutting edge.

 

[triumph406]

what do you consider out of control? would help if you brought up some examples...

YG-1 1/2" Alu-powers end mills $100.04 for (3) 9/21/2016
YG-1 1/2" Alu-powers end mills $150.49 for (3) 4/25/24

50% increase in 8 years, not complaining.

I thought it was going to be 100%+ before I checked invoices

 

[triumph406]

I guess I just needed to venture outside of MSC Industrial supply.

You should stick with MSC, they'll bend you over, fuck you without the vaseline, and not even give you the courtesy of a reach around.

Learn where to buy tools before starting stooopid threads, save some money, then with the money you saved get a BJ. I think you need one.

 

[empower]

YG-1 1/2" Alu-powers end mills $100.04 for (3) 9/21/2016
YG-1 1/2" Alu-powers end mills $150.49 for (3) 4/25/24

50% increase in 8 years, not complaining.

I thought it was going to be 100%+ before I checked invoices

i'm surprised its only 50% given how much everything else has increased!

 

[triumph406]

i'm surprised its only 50% given how much everything else has increased!

I was surprised as well.

That might be an outlier though.

 

[Mtndew]

Is anyone having any luck with low cost country sourced end mills?

Where in Michigan are you? What do you consider to be low cost?
Garr in Saginaw makes fantastic end mills but you need to use one of their distributors of which there are many. I prefer Next Industries in Shelby Township. Ask for Pasquale.

 

[Mtndew]

YG-1 1/2" Alu-powers

Amazing end mills. I have a 3/4" necked Alu-Power. It's a monster.

 

[hmw1972]

Welding supplies are even worse. I used to buy Supreme 71 mig wire for just under $100/roll in 2019 and I just bought one the other day for just over $200/roll. The gas we use for this wire went from $175/bottle to $300 in the same time period.

 

[Limy Sami]

So how many truck loads of endmills are you looking for?

 

[bigjon61]

Find a different supplier than MSC. Go to your endmill manufacturers' website and look for distributors in your area that aren't MSC. You'll probably save 20% almost immediately.

 

[empower]

yeah MSC, mcmaster and other big places like that are typically pretty awful on pricing, especially if you just buy from the website without creating a relationship with any of the sales reps. having a great tooling guy in this industry is absolutely paramount.

 

[DanASM]

I get great pricing from MSC. Cheaper than anywhere else for the same exact item. Shows up next day UPS ground.

I do not buy enough to justify bigger discounts. I spend maybe $50-$150 at a time with them, and never have an issue with prices. I would lose more $ looking for better deals than if I just got back to work.

I am just a little guy in a big ocean.

 

[Hypersonic]

Where in Michigan are you? What do you consider to be low cost?
Garr in Saginaw makes fantastic end mills but you need to use one of their distributors of which there are many. I prefer Next Industries in Shelby Township. Ask for Pasquale.

Romeo, I will check out Garr, I have had good luck with Sharp cutter grinding in Fraser too, just sometimes can't get exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you.

 

[Mtndew]

Romeo, I will check out Garr, I have had good luck with Sharp cutter grinding in Fraser too, just sometimes can't get exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you.

Check out Progressive Cutter Grinding in Shelby Township. 586-580-2367 they make their own cutters, we have used their variable helix end mills a lot in the past. Prices really decent and their end mills are good quality. They also do our resharps. Ask for a catalog, their website is useless though. Ask for Yurgi (spelling?)
His accent makes it a little hard to understand, but he's a nice guy and has never steered us wrong, especially on specials we want made,coated and delivered yesterday.

 

[Houdini]

I buy some tools from these guys, just to keep it in the USA

CarbideToolSource.com

Buy solid carbide cutting tools and end mills direct from the Oregon manufacturer

www.carbidetoolsource.com

 

[empower]

Check out Progressive Cutter Grinding in Shelby Township. 586-580-2367 they make their own cutters, we have used their variable helix end mills a lot in the past. Prices really decent and their end mills are good quality. They also do our resharps. Ask for a catalog, their website is useless though. Ask for Yurgi (spelling?)
His accent makes it a little hard to understand, but he's a nice guy and has never steered us wrong, especially on specials we want made,coated and delivered yesterday.

SFS carbide in saginaw are great as well!