I bought a few brand new old stock name brand US made end mills off of ebay surprisingly cheap. Some are longer than ideal but some are pretty conventional. Mostly HHS and cobalt. It didn't seem anyone else wanted them. I suspect there's a reason. What am I missing?
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New Old Stock End Mills
- Thread starter ptsmith
- Start date
- Replies 20
- Views 2,978
Gordon Heaton
Titanium
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2007
- Location
- St. George, Utah
Probably aren't missing anything. eBay is a gamble, that's all. I've bought 'new' endmills in the past that came with chips all over them! Ebay might be ok for home use, but if I need something for paid work I save myself a lot of potential trouble and buy from a known supplier.
awander
Stainless
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2012
- Location
- Eastern PA
What is "HHS"?
I've been lucky. They've all been new. At least they're in the original container, look new and are really sharp.
I give credit to ebay that they no ifs, ands or buts allow you to return something if you don't get what your suppose to get. And make the seller pay for return shipping. So there's really no risk in buying off ebay anymore.
And I understand that a real shop doesn't have time for ebay shopping. It makes no sense for them.
What I'm really asking is: Was the HSS and cobalt as good back in the day as it is now? The end mill geometry? Some of the end mills I've bought are so old that Googling the part number doesn't find anything.
I haven't bought any - yet - but I see new end mills in paper tubes. Those are pretty dang old, right? Are they worth buying for home use?
PS: What I have so far is mostly Niagara. And some Union Butterfield, Cleveland, OSG and DGI.
muckalee
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2011
- Location
- Americus, Georgia
The only reason you won them is because I did not see them.
TedinNorfolk
Stainless
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2006
- Location
- Norfolk, UK
Just a change in taste/fashion. Carbides are becoming more the norm now. Different from when I was coming up(and spiral fluted carbides were as yet un-dreamed of). The hss cutters would be weekly reground to the point that rake/chip clearance was affected. Oh happy days!
Mike1974
Diamond
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2014
- Location
- Tampa area
A little OT, was looking for a certain decimal reamer (over 1.0") and found some new old stock ones on ebay!! Just under $15 ea WITH shipping. Sometimes you win 
Limy Sami
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
- Location
- Norfolk, UK
And if you were really lucky, you got one with some flutes left
……………..and never EVER walk past a swarf bin/ skip out in the yard, ……...especially just after the turret and auto shops had just had a turf out.HuFlungDung
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2005
- Location
- Canada
HSS is tolerable for machining wood, plastic and aluminum. For steels, it's kind of annoying how quickly it gets dull, and you have to be careful with cutting speeds and coolant application. Lot more need for a tool and cutter grinder, which might be a distraction from what you want to get done in a day. But it's all fun to learn about cutter grinding.
L
Luke.kerbey
Guest
You’d be suprised about high volume production shops using HSS in this day and age
projectnut
Stainless
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2006
- Location
- Wisconsin
I would agree that buying anything on eBay is a bit of a gamble. Over the years I have bought a number of end mills at what I would consider reasonable prices. Most came from shops that had gone out of business and either they or their representatives were selling off the consumables. A year or so back the prices started rising dramatically. It seemed everyone was asking retail prices or greater. More recently prices have come down on HSS and cobalt, while the prices for carbide seem to be creeping up.
I'm willing to take the chance if the prices are right, and I don't need them immediately. However as Gordon said if it's for a paying job, and on a timeline I just go to a local supplier. I generally have a list going as to the sizes I'm either getting low on or those I need for specific jobs. When I reach the ordering threshold I do a search for those specific sizes. Occasionally I get lucky and can buy some for considerably less than they would cost through a vendor.
I consider buying on eBay more as a form of entertainment than shopping for needed tooling. Sometimes it's fun to see what's available, and what people think their products are worth.
Last week I needed a somewhat oddball end mill - 15/16". They're right pricey new. Looked on Ebay, found someone selling Melin (USA) double ended versions for $19 including shipping. I ordered it, arrived in two days, still in the old cardboard tubes. Perfect.
G
Guest
Guest
I still have tooling I bought on E-bay 20 years ago. I do believe a lot of the early items I bought walked off from somebody's day job. A lot of stuff back then just went way too cheap. Also you had people selling small lots of tooling along with many unrelated items. The item I still have a lot of is a drill collection, various sizes from .031-.250. Most of it wasn't in packages, the stuff in packages was Guhring and all the lose stuff appeared to be Guhring also. There were lots of them, all new, rarely is there more than a .002 gap from one size to the next. There had to easily be $10,000 of drills there, I think I paid $500. Now I would say buyer beware. There are lots of low end tools, counterfeits, and unscrupulous sellers trying to deceive people.
Ebay has changed a lot in the last 10 years.
I buy probably 50% or MORE of my daily use endmills off of ebay. Typically the tooling I buy from my reps is for a special application.
Last week I bought 8 1/2" 7fl and 2 3/4" 4fl carbide endmills, premium brand, my cost would have been $778. Total cost with shipping was $270.
I bought a bunch of "NEW" Garr endmills and drills, out of the batch, the 1/2" Ball mill was used... lightly, but used. Seller apologized and immediately gave me a full refund and told me to keep the endmill. All the rest were brand new.
I bought 5? 6? I don't remember how many Gurhring 20mm extra LOC roughers off of a guy on ebay. They were supposed to be new. They were VERY VERY lightly used. I looked at the cutting edge with a loupe and you could see where it had cut. These are $250? ea. new. I paid I think $50 ea for them. When I got them and contacted the seller, he apologized and told me the Guhring rep had given him a big box of them to sell and the rep had said they were new. He gave me a partial refund, they wound up costing me something like $35ea. Those endmills have made a LOT of chips...
I buy probably 50% or MORE of my daily use endmills off of ebay. Typically the tooling I buy from my reps is for a special application.
Last week I bought 8 1/2" 7fl and 2 3/4" 4fl carbide endmills, premium brand, my cost would have been $778. Total cost with shipping was $270.
I bought a bunch of "NEW" Garr endmills and drills, out of the batch, the 1/2" Ball mill was used... lightly, but used. Seller apologized and immediately gave me a full refund and told me to keep the endmill. All the rest were brand new.
I bought 5? 6? I don't remember how many Gurhring 20mm extra LOC roughers off of a guy on ebay. They were supposed to be new. They were VERY VERY lightly used. I looked at the cutting edge with a loupe and you could see where it had cut. These are $250? ea. new. I paid I think $50 ea for them. When I got them and contacted the seller, he apologized and told me the Guhring rep had given him a big box of them to sell and the rep had said they were new. He gave me a partial refund, they wound up costing me something like $35ea. Those endmills have made a LOT of chips...
projectnut
Stainless
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2006
- Location
- Wisconsin
To your point , earlier today I looked at several "lots" of end mills for sale on eBay. I noticed several that were advertised as "new" with oil and chips all over the cutting edges. Either the seller was ignorant as to what they were selling, didn't look very closely as to whether or not they had been used, or was being dishonest thinking most people would never know the difference.
bikebuilder
Stainless
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2007
- Location
- Montana
I buy NOS HSS all the time on Ebay. Don't see what's a gamble about it.. if it's advertised as made in USA NOS and comes packaged/marked as such and looks the part in pictures. Ain't rocket science.
TedinNorfolk
Stainless
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2006
- Location
- Norfolk, UK
Sami,I had meant to add that some of the cutters were almost smooth-and not too much chance of cutting ones pinkies while screwing into the Autolock! So what sort of things did the autos and turrets sling out? And scrap,swarf bins and skips are a whole topic imo!
Limy Sami
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
- Location
- Norfolk, UK
Drills and cutter bits etc etc from tool changes, - usually where the old ones were dropped and the tool fitters couldn't be bothered to fish them out of the swarf in the machine, - I hardly bought lathe tool blanks for years, ………...along with countless allen keys, …………. the 4'' & 8'' Bahco adjustables I still have, …………..oh and a ''brand new'' 1/2'' Jacobs chuck on a 2 mt arbor (which is still in use as I type this - but I had to buy a key for it - bastards!
)markz528
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2012
- Location
- Cincinnati
I just bought about a mix of 45 new HSS, Cobalt and carbide (including 3 3/4" carbides) all brand new USA made. Paid about $190 total and I figure if I paid retail it was around $2,000. Them 3/4 carbide are a bit pricey new.
EPAIII
Diamond
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2003
- Location
- Beaumont, TX, USA
What are you missing? Probably a lesson in real world stock policies. Some company purchased a lot of them for use or sale. They did not use or sell all of them and they sat around for years because no one wanted the trouble of doing anything with them. They finally needed the shelf space or a bean counter asked WHY are we still holding on to these. So, they are for sale.
They have long since been written off so they just want to sell them for what they can get for them quickly. Perhaps for the employ's picnic fund. They are not worth the time and trouble to get top dollar for them because that company has other coals in the fire that will make them a lot more money. This is why/how valuable stuff winds up for sale cheap or even in the dumpster. I got a Mahr Millimess DI by dumpster diving some years ago. They no longer needed it and just tossed it out.
They have long since been written off so they just want to sell them for what they can get for them quickly. Perhaps for the employ's picnic fund. They are not worth the time and trouble to get top dollar for them because that company has other coals in the fire that will make them a lot more money. This is why/how valuable stuff winds up for sale cheap or even in the dumpster. I got a Mahr Millimess DI by dumpster diving some years ago. They no longer needed it and just tossed it out.
