[oldjag]

I finally got the Solidcam .gpp post working correctly for my old
Hurco KMB1. The helical milling seems to work pretty well, so I
thinking of trying some thread milling. It appears dedicated thread
mills are a bit pricey for trial and possible error use. Anyone have
a source for surplus thread mills? If the thread mills that cut one
thread groove at a time work okay I may try that first, they seem a
bit cheaper. Eventually, I'd like to thread mill some shallow 8-32
holes in aluminum.

[Ed Huntress]

"oldjag" wrote in message
...
I finally got the Solidcam .gpp post working correctly for my old
Hurco KMB1. The helical milling seems to work pretty well, so I
thinking of trying some thread milling. It appears dedicated thread
mills are a bit pricey for trial and possible error use. Anyone have
a source for surplus thread mills? If the thread mills that cut one
thread groove at a time work okay I may try that first, they seem a
bit cheaper. Eventually, I'd like to thread mill some shallow 8-32
holes in aluminum.

Just curious, but why would you want to mill threads in aluminum? Unless
something has changed, thread milling usually is applied to materials that
are difficult to thread with a conventional tap.

--
Ed Huntress

[Karl Townsend]

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

"oldjag" wrote in message
...
I finally got the Solidcam .gpp post working correctly for my old
Hurco KMB1. The helical milling seems to work pretty well, so I
thinking of trying some thread milling. It appears dedicated thread
mills are a bit pricey for trial and possible error use. Anyone have
a source for surplus thread mills? If the thread mills that cut one
thread groove at a time work okay I may try that first, they seem a
bit cheaper. Eventually, I'd like to thread mill some shallow 8-32
holes in aluminum.

Just curious, but why would you want to mill threads in aluminum? Unless
something has changed, thread milling usually is applied to materials that
are difficult to thread with a conventional tap.

--
Ed Huntress

That, and thery don't make thread mills for that small a size as far as I
know. I've used a lathe thread boring bar as a single point thread mill.
They are cheap on ebay, etc.

Karl

[Jon Anderson]

Karl Townsend wrote:

That, and thery don't make thread mills for that small a size as far as I
know. I've used a lathe thread boring bar as a single point thread mill.
They are cheap on ebay, etc.

Emuge makes them down to 0-80!


Jon

[Jon Elson]

oldjag wrote:
I finally got the Solidcam .gpp post working correctly for my old
Hurco KMB1. The helical milling seems to work pretty well, so I
thinking of trying some thread milling. It appears dedicated thread
mills are a bit pricey for trial and possible error use. Anyone have
a source for surplus thread mills? If the thread mills that cut one
thread groove at a time work okay I may try that first, they seem a
bit cheaper. Eventually, I'd like to thread mill some shallow 8-32
holes in aluminum.
You can get single-row thread mills that will do a
range of thread
pitches. They are still expensive, but about half
the price of one
standard thread mill, that can only be used on one
thread pitch.
I got one made by "Micro 100" they are sold by
most of the major
tool distributors.

Jon

[oldjag]

On Nov 17, 11:27*pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
"oldjag" wrote in message

...

I finally got the Solidcam .gpp post working correctly for my old
Hurco KMB1. *The helical milling seems to work pretty well, so I
thinking of *trying some thread milling. *It appears dedicated thread
mills are a bit pricey for trial and possible error use. *Anyone have
a source for surplus thread mills? *If *the thread mills that cut one
thread groove at a time work okay I may try that first, they seem a
bit cheaper. * Eventually, I'd like to thread mill some shallow 8-32
holes in aluminum.

Just curious, but why would you want to mill threads in aluminum? Unless
something has changed, thread milling usually is applied to materials that
are difficult to thread with a conventional tap.

--
Ed Huntress

The main reason for think of using the thread mill is because my old
Hurco does not have an encoder on the spindle to do rigid tapping, and
I don't have any experience, (yet), using the floating tap holders
that came with the machine. The rigid tapping looks like it will work
close to the blind hole bottom without switching tools, ie. standard
tap followed with a bottoming tap...

[Ed Huntress]

"oldjag" wrote in message
...
On Nov 17, 11:27 pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
"oldjag" wrote in message

...

I finally got the Solidcam .gpp post working correctly for my old
Hurco KMB1. The helical milling seems to work pretty well, so I
thinking of trying some thread milling. It appears dedicated thread
mills are a bit pricey for trial and possible error use. Anyone have
a source for surplus thread mills? If the thread mills that cut one
thread groove at a time work okay I may try that first, they seem a
bit cheaper. Eventually, I'd like to thread mill some shallow 8-32
holes in aluminum.

Just curious, but why would you want to mill threads in aluminum? Unless
something has changed, thread milling usually is applied to materials that
are difficult to thread with a conventional tap.

--
Ed Huntress

The main reason for think of using the thread mill is because my old
Hurco does not have an encoder on the spindle to do rigid tapping, and
I don't have any experience, (yet), using the floating tap holders
that came with the machine. The rigid tapping looks like it will work
close to the blind hole bottom without switching tools, ie. standard
tap followed with a bottoming tap...

That's a good reason. In fact, we had an application or two at Wasino, using
our multi-axis turn/mill machines, in which milling threads just simplified
the total operation.

--
Ed Huntress

[Mark Rand]

On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:27:24 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"oldjag" wrote in message
...
I finally got the Solidcam .gpp post working correctly for my old
Hurco KMB1. The helical milling seems to work pretty well, so I
thinking of trying some thread milling. It appears dedicated thread
mills are a bit pricey for trial and possible error use. Anyone have
a source for surplus thread mills? If the thread mills that cut one
thread groove at a time work okay I may try that first, they seem a
bit cheaper. Eventually, I'd like to thread mill some shallow 8-32
holes in aluminum.

Just curious, but why would you want to mill threads in aluminum? Unless
something has changed, thread milling usually is applied to materials that
are difficult to thread with a conventional tap.


You missed out the other main use for thread milling:- Threads that are large
enough for the tap to be a serious amount of money compared with thread
milling :-)



Mark Rand
RTFM

[oldjag]

On Nov 20, 5:22*am, Mark Rand wrote:
On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:27:24 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:



"oldjag" wrote in message
....
I finally got the Solidcam .gpp post working correctly for my old
Hurco KMB1. *The helical milling seems to work pretty well, so I
thinking of *trying some thread milling. *It appears dedicated thread
mills are a bit pricey for trial and possible error use. *Anyone have
a source for surplus thread mills? *If *the thread mills that cut one
thread groove at a time work okay I may try that first, they seem a
bit cheaper. * Eventually, I'd like to thread mill some shallow 8-32
holes in aluminum.

Just curious, but why would you want to mill threads in aluminum? Unless
something has changed, thread milling usually is applied to materials that
are difficult to thread with a conventional tap.

You missed out the other main use for thread milling:- Threads that are large
enough for the tap to be a serious amount of money compared with thread
milling :-)

Mark Rand
RTFM

Looks like Emuge has a pretty neat thread mill that drills the hole,
mills the threads, and puts a relief groove at the bottom of a blind
hole in one shot.

[Ed Huntress]

"oldjag" wrote in message
...
On Nov 20, 5:22 am, Mark Rand wrote:
On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:27:24 -0500, "Ed Huntress"

wrote:



"oldjag" wrote in message
...
I finally got the Solidcam .gpp post working correctly for my old
Hurco KMB1. The helical milling seems to work pretty well, so I
thinking of trying some thread milling. It appears dedicated thread
mills are a bit pricey for trial and possible error use. Anyone have
a source for surplus thread mills? If the thread mills that cut one
thread groove at a time work okay I may try that first, they seem a
bit cheaper. Eventually, I'd like to thread mill some shallow 8-32
holes in aluminum.

Just curious, but why would you want to mill threads in aluminum? Unless
something has changed, thread milling usually is applied to materials
that
are difficult to thread with a conventional tap.

You missed out the other main use for thread milling:- Threads that are
large
enough for the tap to be a serious amount of money compared with thread
milling :-)

Mark Rand
RTFM

Looks like Emuge has a pretty neat thread mill that drills the hole,
mills the threads, and puts a relief groove at the bottom of a blind
hole in one shot.

I haven't seen that one, but Emuge makes very nice tools.

--
Ed Huntress

[Jon Anderson]

oldjag wrote:

Looks like Emuge has a pretty neat thread mill that drills the hole,
mills the threads, and puts a relief groove at the bottom of a blind
hole in one shot.

Some years ago one of my customers was working on a design for a pizza
vending machine. Being involved with them in solving some mechanical
issues, the owner wanted to give me a lucrative contract for some of
said parts. I contacted an engineer at Emuge and inquired as to how fast
one of these could make a 1/4-20 hole .500 deep in extruded aluminum.

I don't recall the specifics of the reply but assuming a 10k spindle and
adequate coolant, I seem to recall about 3 seconds total. Sure looked
like a winner to me, saving hundreds of tool changes a day.

Sadly, the project never went to production.


Jon