Do you use new or re-sharpened Bits?

[W00dM@n]

The company I work for resharpens the Router bits until they can no longer be re-sharpened, I use Onsrud bits 3/8 SC 3 edge D/C chip breaker for example. These are about $100.00 new. I have friends that work at other shops that only use new bits, they never re-sharpen theirs. How many of you re-sharpen your bits and how many of you only use new bits. Does anyone know if there is a market for used bits?

[ger21]

Why would someone pay $100 for new bits instead of $20 to resharpen? We resharpen 2-3 times.

[Switcher]

The place I worked at a while back, we sharpend all of the (carbide) drills, actually that was my job.

Our plant ran a lot of cnc lathe & 6- spindle screw-machines, very fast production (automotive bearings), so we used a lot of drills.

1) new drill = approx. $110

2) resharpen drill = approx $18

3) sharpen & new coating = approx $22

The sharpen & coating price was back in 2000 before we bought the cnc toolgrinder.

The only way we could use the re-sharpend drills was to have them coated again, we out sourced the coating, it's one of those jobs that pays to let someone else deal with it.

Tell your friends you'll buy the old drill bits, last I checked scrap carbide was selling for good money. Carbide scrap sells by weight, & carbide is very heavy... I would imagine you can make money selling scrap carbide faster, & less work than trying to re-sale used bits.

[Boots]

We resharpen. With the software today and the controls so nice it is easy to comp your tool for wear or grinding. It saves us a ton of $$$$ that's worth it's weight in carbide.
So long as they are not chipped or damaged on the edge.....it's ok to regrind. Just remember that when the tool is new it's cutting edge is on center,,,,as metal is removed from the O.D. the cutting edge works it's way around the tool and drops below center line. For this reason a regrind does not work as well as a new one. I wouldn't go more than a couple sharpenings for this reason. You will start to put more side preasure to get your dimention and the stress on the tool could break it. Plus you will loose flute clearence and chip removal will become an issue.