Always on the lookout for a better way to store endmills, was playing with some rifle ammo boxes (20 round), and found some things from MTM I like.
This one is my current winner:
This is an MTM J-20, for 7mm Mag, 300 Mag, and other large cartridges. I like it because it holds .25" endmills while still in their “factory tubes” - which I like to keep because they keep me from using the wrong coating, and can tell the cheap ones from the expensive ones, etc. .125" endmills are likewise ok, in their factory tubes. You could certainly put bare tools in here, but I prefer not. I don’t think I would use this for .125 bare endmills, for that I use a different holder.
A .223/5.56 rifle ammo box like this will hold .25" endmills, but only without any other packaging, and only “cutter down” without the blades knocking each other. 20 to a container.
For bare .125" endmills, I still use these, and really like them (you can get them from Bits&Bits for a few dollars)
I like your storage ideas. Could anyone tell me how they manage their bit useage. What I mean is I have multiple bits of the same number. I want to use them one at a time. Sometimes I write the date with a magic marker on the container when I open one but because I have all the same bits in a container together I have to look at all of them and even then I dont know how many times I have used the same bit.
Please explain your management of bits if you have a system for managing them.
I keep a set “out” and in a tray of tools and parts - those are the ones I use. There is one of each general type for the most part…1 aluminum cutting .25", a .125" of same, some general purpose carbide .25" and .125", a single flute .125", a .25" shank .125" tool, a tapered .25" tool, a few others. The rest stay away in a drawer. If I break something or one gets dull, they go into a scrap carbide bin, and I pull out another (and then order another if that’s the last one - I don’t find keeping stock beyond that >>for me<< to be useful)
As a followup, the J20-Medium Rifle case works really well with ⅛" endmills in the short tubes. Doesn’t work well with the long tubes you sometimes get.
