Hello Brian, I am not familiar with the jig your post is about but I am going to post to bump you back to the top of the que to get your question answered since my work in other parts of the forum pushed your post down the line prematurely.

I have been trying to figure this out also. So far I have found a solid carbide endmill works best. They're not cheap, They're like $10-$20 dollars a piece but they last a long time.

I have not seen Uncle Al's jig though. I just put the blade in a file guide and then clamp it in the vise.

O yeah I also found that I like the radius a 1/8" carbide end mill gives me and the 1 I have been using is a 2 flute haven't tried a 4 flute yet.

But like I said I am still messing around with what works best. If anybody else has a suggestion or experience with this I would love to hear it too.

I am not familiar with that jig, but I have used 1/8" four flute carbide end mills for my shoulders for over 15 years. I get as many as maybe a dozen or more knives per end mill. And I use the same end mill for slotting my guards.

It's all about taking small bites and not abusing the end mill.

I do not find them expensive, at all. They save a great deal of time when it comes to assembly. They save money.

I buy mine 10 at a time on Ebay and they only cost a couple bucks apiece.

Maybe I'm trying to go too fast. What speed are you running your mill at? I bought some 3/16" went through 4 of them on 2 knives. So I went back to the 9" disk. Oh I am brand new to using a milling machine.

I spin as fast as my table top grizzly will go but I only take 5 or 10thou a pass, maybe more. I my mill if I'm taking to much of a cut I can hear it and feel it so I back off and take less of a cut until it cuts nice and smooth, if you get what I mean.

But let me ask you a question are you doing this preheat treat or post heat treat? Also what blade steel are you using? That could have a lot to do with it now that I think about it.

I have only been doing this in soft 1084 and 1075 just recently.

I'm using 1084 after heat treat. I'm drawing the tang,spine and down into the ricaso after tempering. It should be soft enough. Can you mill the shoulders before heat treat?

I have done it before harden the 1084/1075 and after but the times I have done it after I put satinite on the ricaso so it wouldn't hardin.

I've been milling my guards and shoulders with 1/8" end mill for 15 years I always mill before hardening.

I also have no idea how fast my mill is going. I set the belts on my newest mill back in 2012 and I've never changed it. I used a small bench top before that and ran it in high gear at the highest speed. Flat out full.

When slotting and cutting shoulders I only take about .002-3" per pass. There's no hurry.

The time you save later pays for any time you use slotting. Slow down.

|quoted:

I've been milling my guards and shoulders with 1/8" end mill for 15 years I always mill before hardening.

I also have no idea how fast my mill is going. I set the belts on my newest mill back in 2012 and I've never changed it. I used a small bench top before that and ran it in high gear at the highest speed. Flat out full.

When slotting and cutting shoulders I only take about .002-3" per pass. There's no hurry.

The time you save later pays for any time you use slotting. Slow down.

Thanks Karl. I changed the speed on my mill yesterday. I think that was the main problem. Makes sense to mill them before HT. And that was another one of my problems.

Does anyone have a picture of this jig that everyone is descibing? Thanks

I don't have 1 but here is a link to a popular 1 people buy. Link

Does anyone have a photo or description of the shoulder jigs that you are talking about.