Shop made insert tool holders

I finally got fed up waiting for the 7 degree end mill to show up yesterday. I decided to try using the 3D steep wall contour function in Fusion 360 to accomplish that cut. I used a .008" DOC which translates to roughly .001" step over per pass. It worked great and you can't tell that it was done with a square end mill. I got all four tools that I designed completed.

The first picture is right off the mill. I tapped the hole with my Tapmatic on my drill press.

The second picture is all of the tools, LH -5 degree, 40 degree, RH -5 degree, flycutter.

The last picture is of a piece of 6061-T6 that I cut with the fly cutter. I wound up using 2000 RPM, 10 IPM and .010" DOC. The finish was mirror like. I had a hard time getting a picture of the surface. I'm sure the tool can handle more, but it isn't balanced and anything over 2000 RPM made the machine vibrate more than I was comfortable with. I'd really like to make a balanced cutter head now.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7509.jpg
    IMG_7509.jpg
    288.6 KB · Views: 64
  • IMG_7513.jpg
    IMG_7513.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 65
  • IMG_7512.jpg
    IMG_7512.jpg
    828.4 KB · Views: 67
those look absolutely fabulous Chris, nice job! Next up, some Black Oxide treatment and you'll be done :)
 
I kept thinking that it would be nice to have an R8 fly cutter that I could run at higher RPMs. I dug around in my tool cabinet and found a NIP 3/4" end mill holder that I got with a set years ago. The end mill holder body was 1.75" OD, 2.375" long and .500 thick. There was plenty of meat there to machine a fly cutter out of. I started by turning the body down to 1.25" long. The material was hard (~35RC) so it took about 45 minutes at 115 RPM, .050" DOC and .003" IPT on my 13x40 lathe. Then I modeled the tool holder in Fusion 360. I designed it with two identical legs so that it should be inherently balanced. I machined the legs on my CNC converted G0704. I only had a couple 3/8" 2 flute carbide end mills on hand so it took roughly 1.75 hours on the mill at 2150 RPM, .375" DOC and .010" WOC and 6.5 IPM (.0015"" IPT). Even at these relatively light parameters the machine was chattering along. It would have been nice to have a couple 3/8" 4 flute end mills on hand. I'll have to add them to my shopping list.

Anyway here's where I'm at. The finish isn't as bad as it looks. It's smooth to the touch:

IMG_7520.jpg

IMG_7521.jpg
 
I kept thinking that it would be nice to have an R8 fly cutter that I could run at higher RPMs. I dug around in my tool cabinet and found a NIP 3/4" end mill holder that I got with a set years ago. The end mill holder body was 1.75" OD, 2.375" long and .500 thick. There was plenty of meat there to machine a fly cutter out of. I started by turning the body down to 1.25" long. The material was hard (~35RC) so it took about 45 minutes at 115 RPM, .050" DOC and .003" IPT on my 13x40 lathe. Then I modeled the tool holder in Fusion 360. I designed it with two identical legs so that it should be inherently balanced. I machined the legs on my CNC converted G0704. I only had a couple 3/8" 2 flute carbide end mills on hand so it took roughly 1.75 hours on the mill at 2150 RPM, .375" DOC and .010" WOC and 6.5 IPM (.0015"" IPT). Even at these relatively light parameters the machine was chattering along. It would have been nice to have a couple 3/8" 4 flute end mills on hand. I'll have to add them to my shopping list.

Anyway here's where I'm at. The finish isn't as bad as it looks. It's smooth to the touch:

View attachment 318440

View attachment 318441
Nice job so far.
 
I finished the fly cutter this afternoon. The pocket took 8 minutes to machine. Afterward I took a test cut in 6061-T6 at 4500 RPM, .010” DOC, and 22.5 IPM.

3da59e0753dcdb7c1b75f595215621b2.jpg


dd9e3c35c77efbc2950fc2e0e8247195.jpg


81c66b908c7ce6577b9fafa58c22e3bd.jpg
 
I received the G96 Gun Blue from Amazon today. I immediately ran to the garage to try it out. It was very easy to use and I'm really happy with the results.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7538.jpg
    IMG_7538.jpg
    897.8 KB · Views: 56
  • IMG_7537.jpg
    IMG_7537.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 56
I received the G96 Gun Blue from Amazon today. I immediately ran to the garage to try it out. It was very easy to use and I'm really happy with the results.
O come on be honest......you bought those.:finger wag: No Chris that looks gr8. It really looks store bought. Nice
 
I finally received the 2 SSDCN tools I ordered so long ago. I cut them to length, sanded and chamfered the ends, then TIG welded them together using 309 S/S to avoid cracking.

WP_20200404_12_16_20_Pro.jpg

I filed the welds flush and applied some spray-on "black oxide" for the photo shoot.

WP_20200404_12_35_05_Pro.jpg
WP_20200404_12_37_38_Pro.jpg

There was a slight difference in height for reasons I did not bother to investigate. I set it so the tool that would be used for facing was on center, leaving the other 5 or 10 thou below.
 
Back
Top