Sharpening Spirall Router Bit

[Victor Stearns]

Greetings Creekers,
I have a 1/2-inch diameter spiral bearing guided bit that we use a lot. Does anyone know if these can be resharpened? New bits run from $65 upwards. Not opposed to buying another, but would be nice to get it sharpened if possible.
Thanks,
Victor

[Zach Callum]

Yes they can be resharpened, but it won't be 1/2" anymore.

[pat warner]

Nor will it be any where near as good as a new one. I would not regrind. No one is going to fixture a spiral bit and hit all the cutting surfaces as a CNC might.
Rather I would do most of the milling with your 1/2 spent cutters and reserve a new one for the last 10% finish cuts.

[Carl Beckett]

Victor,

You might look on ebay for used/sharpened end mills ($5 to $15 range). These work very well for many operations, and you can save the expensive bit for when you need a critical cut (after sharpening they are usually 0.005" ish undersize, so 0.495" and not 0.500". Many times this just doesnt matter.

[Mark Wooden]

A good sharpening shop will sharpen your bit, ask whoever does your blades. If it's a fluch cutter, it won't be flush any more but not by much at first. Sharpening shops also keep undersize bearings too.

[glenn bradley]

Whiteside sharpens their own bits very reasonably. As stated, it will no longer match the bearing but, Whiteside sells an undersize bearing that they sharpen to match. They do not sharpen other makers bits but, you could contact the maker. As long as it isn't one of the budget outfits, they may offer a similar service.

[David Peebles 1]

Grizzly has spiral end mills in their metal working section of the catalog. They have them in 1/2" shank (but not all the end mills have the same size shank). There is a flat spot on the shank for the chuck in a milling machine, but it is so close to the center of rotation that I've never noticed any vibration. I've used them to cut aluminum with a template and a guide bushing. prices run around $20 or so. They also have them in carbide.