Making a face milling cutter from scrap.
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- čas přidán 20. 08. 2023
- I have a pack of obsolete carbide inserts and wanted to find a use for them. It seems they were originally made for a slotting cutter but I decided I could mount them tangentially on a face mill. They owed me nothing and I had some scrap 4140 round bar so why not ?
I kicked this project off with some 3D printed prototypes before progressing to cutting metal. Milling the pockets for the inserts was a bit of a challenge, but I managed to complete the cutter and test it out. - Věda a technologie
well done Alan, cheers from Florida, USA, Paul
Thank you Paul.
really great effort Alan! that was one hell of a set up on the rotary table, cheers👍👍
Thanks Graedon. The setup took several iterations to get right, and highlighted the value of a sine table. That might be the next project :)
Cheers.
Very absorbing video Alan. Thanks.
Thanks Mike.
Nice result Alan, the finish looks pretty shmick. Sorry to hear about the neuropathy. Hope it stays stable and manageable. Take care of yourself.
Thank you. It seems that being tall is a risk factor for peripheral neuropathy - I'm 1.93m... I have a friend who is just over 2m and he also has problems with this. Still, there are much worse problems to have. Cheers.
Aluminum soda cans are super consistent on the thickness and make a reasonable insert for reducing marks on steel. For the copper you might have to skim a little off of them to make them consistent, similar to how people do for custom soft jaws. I would guess that the thickness of the copper is more variable AND that the bend is not as predictable.
Cool project!
Thanks for the soda can tip - I'll give it a try.
Cheers.
Great job Alan, it looks like it will be the go-to tool now. Enjoyed, cheers!
Thank you.
Gday Alan, fantastic job and not an easy build but you nailed it, great job mate, cheers
Thanks Matty, and I'm pleased to see you staying in touch with the machining channels. I won't admit to how much time this project consumed :( - but I will say that working out the geometry and hole locations was a real head scratch. The side clearance derives from how much the rear edge of the insert is placed behind a tangent point of contact on the circumference and it took me a while to get this right. The milling setup had me foxed for a while as well and it led me to thinking a sine table would be a good project. Anyway the end result repaid the effort and I'm now thinking about other uses for these inserts eg turning, facing and a fly cutter.
I often think of you and hope that your journey back to health is progressing well. Cheers, Alan.
Outstanding job and what a surface finish too. Excellent.
Thank you - I'm still reaping the benefits of your advice re indexing from a single datum point :)
That was a head scratcher in Geometry ,nice work
Know tapping compound and I found my missing brade hammer
Kit from up north
Thanks Kit. That tack hammer has been in my family for 60 years that I'm aware of :)
Show off ! 🙂
looks a lot like grinding job finish to my eye, akin to blanchard grinding... yet its a milling op, so that is some fine finish indeed, and speaking of which, those look very much like a variant of high feed cutting edges, which while suitable for high feed and shallow cut, can actually produce marvelous finish as this has, due to the radiused edge with a relatively good shearing effect with a decent edge quality, which these inserts seem to have... Interesting inserts...
There's no doubt that the inserts should get the credit for the fine finish and I'm thinking about making a fly cutter that would hold one.
Thanks for your comment.
@@alanshomeworkshop
Yeah, i just wanted to say that i would consider making a lone flyer insert holder for some fly-cutting action... That could and should result in a supreme finish, also, for the pleasure of the Machine Spirit, do your best to balance that flycutter, as being a non-adjustable holder, it will benefit greatly from a perfect balancing... Sure, a perfect head tram will also be the utmost prerequisite, but that could truly be a mirror finish flycutter... Also, consider using those as lathe tooling... It should be easy to make a holder akin to those parting carbide nibs holder, but for this type of insert... It would offer insane finishing passes both on diameter and face cuts... Tho, i would make that holder without any pins, just a precision(literally 1 micron of total clearance if possible) slot with a retainer screw... Hell, i could even see one using those in a custom holder for a shaper... The shearing cut and all making the inserts ideal for finish passes...
Food for thought, and ideas taken on board.
Thank you.
Fantastic job, but you didn't mention if you can still buy the inserts?
Thank you Stewart - the inserts are obsolete and no longer stocked. However, they each have four useable cutting edges and I have ten of them, so I think that will see me out :)
Cheers.
👍👍😎
Thanks Doug.
Did you anneal the copper
Kit from up north
No - that would be worth trying. Tks.
G day Alan you inspired a build of mine would like to send you some pictures Regard’s all the best
Thanks for reaching out - my workshop email address is: homeworkshop17@gmail.com
Look forward to seeing your pictures,
Cheers.
Morning Alan....A quick question. How does it feel to have a bunch of bolts named after you?.....LOL
Edit: Nice work on the cutter!
Keep up the good work!
Well, I've always been keen on safety and the recessed socket head screw was patented in 1909 by W. G. Allen as a safety improvement over protruding hex heads. So I do have something in common with my (nearly) namesake :)
Thanks for your comment Sparkie.