I have an bench-top Atlas horizontal mill without any tooling. It only
has a 7/8" arbor and there are very few 7/8 cutters (on eBay). I see 2
alternatives: buy (?) or make a 1" arbor and buy cutters for it, or buy
end-mill holder(s) and end mills.

I'm leaning toward the end-mill approach for these reasons:
- the 1" arbor is going to be expensive to buy or over my ability to
make
- you can do more things with end mills (e.g., dove tails and slots)
- there are more end mills available than arbor cutters
- end mill cutters are easier to change than horizontal arbor cutters

The only thing that I can think of that I'd be giving up is the greater
rigidity of the horizontal arbor.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks,
Bob

Both have their place, and are useful.

The 1" arbor can be quite expensive. Once you have it though, decent
used 1" hole cutters are dirt cheap at many used tool dealers, often
less than much smaller end mills cost new. The 7/8" hole cutter sizes
are MUCH harder to find.

The end mill holders are fairly inexpensive, and you only need a few
since most cutters have standard sized shanks. Still, a few extra are
nice so you don't have to keep changing the cutters in the holders as
often. It's usually faster to change out a whole holder than change out
a cutter.

Dan Mitchell
==========

Bob Engelhardt wrote:

I have an bench-top Atlas horizontal mill without any tooling. It only
has a 7/8" arbor and there are very few 7/8 cutters (on eBay). I see 2
alternatives: buy (?) or make a 1" arbor and buy cutters for it, or buy
end-mill holder(s) and end mills.

I'm leaning toward the end-mill approach for these reasons:
- the 1" arbor is going to be expensive to buy or over my ability to
make
- you can do more things with end mills (e.g., dove tails and slots)
- there are more end mills available than arbor cutters
- end mill cutters are easier to change than horizontal arbor cutters

The only thing that I can think of that I'd be giving up is the greater
rigidity of the horizontal arbor.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks,
Bob

Bob,
I see plenty of 7/8" milling cutters on eBay. Keep looking. They'll
be a lot cheaper than buying a 1" arbor as you have surmised. Both
end mills and plain milling cutters have their place, so get some of
both.
Another thing you can do is buy 1" or 1-1/4" cutters and fit a
reducing sleeve so that they'll fit on your 7/8" arbor.
bbfmetalworking



Bob Engelhardt wrote in message ...
I have an bench-top Atlas horizontal mill without any tooling. It only
has a 7/8" arbor and there are very few 7/8 cutters (on eBay). I see 2
alternatives: buy (?) or make a 1" arbor and buy cutters for it, or buy
end-mill holder(s) and end mills.

I'm leaning toward the end-mill approach for these reasons:
- the 1" arbor is going to be expensive to buy or over my ability to
make
- you can do more things with end mills (e.g., dove tails and slots)
- there are more end mills available than arbor cutters
- end mill cutters are easier to change than horizontal arbor cutters

The only thing that I can think of that I'd be giving up is the greater
rigidity of the horizontal arbor.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks,
Bob

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 14:54:09 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

I have an bench-top Atlas horizontal mill without any tooling. It only
has a 7/8" arbor and there are very few 7/8 cutters (on eBay). I see 2
alternatives: buy (?) or make a 1" arbor and buy cutters for it, or buy
end-mill holder(s) and end mills.

I'm leaning toward the end-mill approach for these reasons:
- the 1" arbor is going to be expensive to buy or over my ability to
make
- you can do more things with end mills (e.g., dove tails and slots)
- there are more end mills available than arbor cutters
- end mill cutters are easier to change than horizontal arbor cutters

The only thing that I can think of that I'd be giving up is the greater
rigidity of the horizontal arbor.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks,
Bob

Bob..its qute easy to make a horizontal arbor. Get a 1" end mill holder,
a chunk of 1 1/8 bar stock and between centers, turn a 1" shank on one
end, and the appropriate bearing stub on the other.

Put the bar into your 1" endmill holder with a bit of locktite, clamp it
down with the set screws. hold the bearing stub with a collet, use a
dead center or an accurate live center on the endmill holders ass end
and turn it to .9995.

The hardest part is making the taper on the ass end of an arbor..but by
using an end mill holder..you bypass that step completly. Ive done a
number of them this way and it works just dandy.

Gunner

The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of "loyalty" and "duty."
Whenever these twin concepts fall into disrepute -- get out of there fast! You may possibly
save yourself, but it is too late to save that society. It is doomed. " Lazarus Long

Thanks to Dan Mitchell, "bbfmetalworking", and Gunner for their advice.
Since they all agree that arbor-mounted cutters have their place and 1"
is the way to go, I guess that I'll make one on Gunner's directions.

Bob

You might also consider buying a right angle attachment for a B'port type of
vertical mill. They come with 1 " arbors.

Bob Swinney
"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message
...
Thanks to Dan Mitchell, "bbfmetalworking", and Gunner for their advice.
Since they all agree that arbor-mounted cutters have their place and 1"
is the way to go, I guess that I'll make one on Gunner's directions.

Bob