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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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milling arbors
"tony" wrote in message ... the good news: i'm a proud owner of a new-to-me bridgeport mill the bad news: i live in italy and its almost impossible to find R8 anything here i've had the mill about 3 weeks now and have been running around buying tooling. found a retired machinist who gave me a great deal on drills/reamers/vices/blocks and... endmills. he gave me 3 or 4 old (but never used) face milling cutters and some dovetail milling cutters. also got some slotting saws. problems is: no milling arbors. the dovetails and slotting saws have a keyed hole. the face mills, however, have a radial key (ie, the key looks like it goes straight through the shaft, across the top of the cutter. like "+" sign. i'm wondering, should i try to make my own milling arbors? and how? i dont have (or have access to) a cylindrical grinder. i've got a lathe. (and a mill!) i'm currently using collets in the mill. the work great as they can accomodate metric tooling and my suitcase full of inch-sized mills. if i make a straight (cylinderical) arbor, will a collet hold it? what kind of material should one use? mail ordering anything from the USA takes AGES to get here. and, if it doesnt fit the cutters right, sending it back costs more than buying it. suggestions on using the facing mills? suggestions on making keyed shafts for the dovetail/slot cutters? thanks, -tony ps.. can i change the R8 spindle for some kinda of MT spindle? MT tooling is abundant here. pps.. i have an adapter R8 - MT3 , but i can't use the draw bolt through the adapter. Tony, You didn't make mention of the size of your miscellaneous milling cutters, so it's difficult to provide a reasonable answer. Bridgeport mills are not known for their rigidity (I own one) and don't lend themselves well to large cutters. Assuming you have a collection of side milling cutters, without a horizontal milling attachment, you'll be limited, for the head won't tolerate unreasonable loading, especially when the arbor isn't supported on each end. Overall, unless the cutters are on the small side, you'll likely not be too happy with the results, and you could be courting a crash. If the cutters you refer to as face milling cutters are what are known as shell mills, you'll have somewhat better luck with them, due in part to the fact that they are run on stub arbors. Do be careful to not run them excessively fast. HSS cutters in the larger sizes require relatively slow speeds in order to avoid burning them. I'd suggest you check your machinist's bible for proper speeds. Side milling cutters are intended to be run under considerable load, which requires, generally, more stability (rigidity) and horse power than you have available, assuming you have a small Bridgeport. If I was to make an arbor, I'd seek something like 4340, which you may be able to buy already heat treated. If you can't find that material, look for some already heat treated 4140, something in the Rc 30 range, so you can still machine it. Full roughing, followed by careful finishing after roughing, could provide an arbor that would run within acceptable limits. It is important that you rough the item fully before taking any finishing cuts. Otherwise you'll likely have an arbor that doesn't run true. If you have the above mentioned shell mills, be certain to provide the drive keys for them when making your arbor(s). Screw loading the cutters alone will not drive them. Changing the spindle could be more than you'd care to get involved in. Personally, I'd just try to locate a few proper devices in order to use the machine as it is. But then, I don't live in Italy! :-) Good luck~ Harold |
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