2017 - The Original "What Did You Buy Today?" Mega Thread

[Rustrp]

Got my annular cutters & MT3 holder.

I mentioned earlier that the holder had too small of a hole to fit my 2" length pilot. I was going to take the holder apart & fix that but decided to wait since there's not enough room for the 2" & 3" pilots to work anyway. If I ever get some shorter annular cutters with pilots I'll revisit that.

MT3 holder has sharp edges but I'll fix that when the lathe is available. Typical China quality but I'm not complaining. Set screws are the cheapest that China makes. Threw them in the trash & installed some quality flat point set screws. Didn't want to risk them getting stripped & not being able to remove a cutter. My Hougen Rotabroaches fits it fine.

The Rotabroaches I got are 1-3/8" x 2" & 2" x 3". Got them brand new on ebay during a flash sale. I hope they work ok without using the pilots. I plan on only using them in the lathe though. Anxious to try them but my lathe will be occupied for another week or so.

Nice cutters. One of my many projects is to make an injector when I use these on the mill and of course I see I will need to do something for the lathe also.

 

[darkzero]

Nice cutters. One of my many projects is to make an injector when I use these on the mill and of course I see I will need to do something for the lathe also.

Injector? Or did you mean ejector?

I personally have never used annular cutters before & the ones above are the first that own. I first thought the pilots were just that, drill an appropriate size hole through the workpiece and the pilot acts as a guide. I did some reading on mag drills, now as I understand it, the pilot is not only a pilot but also ejects the core when retracting the cutter after drilling. So instead of drilling a through hole, you just drill a spot hole for the pilot's tip to center on & will push the core out when retracting the cutter.

The latter makes sense cause the MT3 holder I got has a spring loaded disc inside behind a fixed disc with a hole. But as I mentioned, my 2" pilot does not fit through that hole & there is not enough depth inside the MT3 shank to allow full travel for the 2" pilot. So I assume it's only designed for 1" depth pilots or something like that, I have not measured the allowable travel.

And the groove on the pilot is for coolant? They do make holders with coolant ports. Am I understanding this correctly?

 

[Rustrp]

Injector? Or did you mean ejector?

Ejector. It's been a long day.

When I use my mag drill I work to a center punch mark or if I have a lot of holes I set up stops and leave the magnet on. I've never had the quill end piece apart but if the slug doesn't drop out when I retract the cutter out of the hole, I take it up a little farther and it ejects. There's not a lot of pressure on the pilot. All the different brand cutters use different pilots so if I'm missing one I sharpen a drill bit to a point.

I think the one thing to remember on the ejector/pilot is to make sure there's enough depth or travel for the pilot when the slug is pushing it in against the spring setup inside the MT. As you said, the MT is probably set up for 1" deep cutters. You could check to see how much travel there is and just cut a drill bit or pin to the correct length.

My mag drill quill is hollow (I think there all about the same) and has a slot in the side so the small reservoir can be filled with oil, which is about an ounce. When the pilot is pushed up off it's seat it allows oil to flow down the groove. I only use it when I'm drilling a lot of holes. It can get messy, especially if the pilot rests on something and you end up with a puddle. I use cutting oil except when drilling stainless, then I use Tapmatic Edge creme.

I haven't used a cutter on the lathe so adding cutting oil is a little different but occasionally if a long chip catches on the tip of a tooth it will slide along without cutting and burn a tooth. This usually happens when I'm interrupting the cut to add oil on thicker material. This is one advantage of the pilot oiler because it's flowing inside and you don't need to stop and oil. I've seen a few photos here with the cutters being used on the lathe so maybe you will get some feedback and pointers.

 

[darkzero]

Thanks for the info on mag drills. I've never seen one used in person.

I think I can live without the pilot pin ejecting the core as I probably won't need to drill multiple holes. I can live with taking the cutter out of the holder & popping the core out manually.

My main concern is keeping the cutter lined up since the ones I have are 2" & 3" length. I hope they don't walk easily. I suppose I still could use the pilot to start the cut, then remove the cutter from the holder, take the pilot out & continue on. Sounds like too much trouble to do so but I guess it would still be quicker than drilling & bore holes that size.

I guess I'll just have to try & found out how it goes soon enough.

 

[Rustrp]

My main concern is keeping the cutter lined up since the ones I have are 2" & 3" length. I hope they don't walk easily. I suppose I still could use the pilot to start the cut, then remove the cutter from the holder, take the pilot out & continue on.

I think there's an overlap in relating these cutters to the standard hole saw. The hole saw pilot drill keeps the saw from walking to some degree, but in metal I have found the pilot drill walks around in the center and wobbles the hole larger. I use a solid pin for my hole saws and drill the center prior to using the hole saw. With that said; The pilot's purpose for the mag drill is to center on your mark and as you know it just floats so it really doesn't help with anything like keeping the cutter from walking or on center. I agree with you decisions on no pilot and just pushing the plug out afterwards. I have never had a plug get stuck in the cutter. The pilot really serves no purpose on the lathe or mill unless you use it to help eject the slug.

You don't get the movement or walk you do with a drill bit, and nothing even close to a hole saw. My experience on the lathe or mill , after spot and center drilling the larger drill bit may pull a little off center, so I gently bump the starting cut. You don't get this with an annular cutter unless something isn't locked down. Everything about an annular cutter or how it's held should probably be viewed the same as we would apply to an end mill, and this is why I promote using the cutter in a collett. The cutter is rigid so any movement will come from what or how it's being held.

 

[pstemari]

Cute little Dormer center drill from Amazon

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[Bill Gruby]

The long wait for the ebay auction is over I scored a Burgmaster turret drillpress for 175.00. Will post pics when I pick it up.

It was originally listed for 200.00 but no bids. When it relisted at 175.00 I jumped on it. No other bids were made. Probably because it was local pick-up only. He is 3 hours from me.



"Billy G"

 

[mksj]

Have been wanting a 0.0001" test indicator for years, bid on a few on eCrap, but especially these days decent used ones where almost the same price as new ones. The prices have gone up significantly in the last couple of years. I like the Compac test indicators, they work very smoothly and cost significantly less than the comparable Interapid indicators. They are both made by the same Swiss company, they have differences in the mounting and movement/dial configuration. The Cpmpac's also have an extended range and wider dial markings than other similar test indicators. So with Long Island Indicator having a 20% off sale on these I through in the towel and purchased a Compac 215GA. I like that it has a total range of 0.024" with 0.004" per revolution. Not cheap, but I buy once and less at this point, as I do not expect to purchase another test indicator in my remaining lifetime.

Per the Long Island Indicator blurb that came with the Compac indicator:
In the 1950-60's Compac of Geneva, Switzerland, manufactured the best selling indicator and dial bore gage imports in the United States. These models were sold with the name Alina. They were so well built and such favorites of machinists of the time that, even today, we receive these indicators for repair. In Europe the indicators were sold with the name Parvus. In a misguided effort to build a sturdier gauge, the manufacturer changed the models to clinkers that had all the grace of a bread box. These were the short lived IXL series.

Just a few years later, they introduced the current Compac models. They have had minor changes in the past 10 years but nothing that affected the over-all look or performance. The Compac indicator is designed to last: sturdier than the Bestest and less costly than the Interapid. It fits perfectly in-between. They are also marketed in the UK with the name Mercer, and previously in the USA with the name SPI.

Tesa of Renens, Switzerland, is the manufacturer of Compac indicators as well as BesTest, TesaTast and Interapid indicators. Swiss made Compac test indicators are featured in the current Brown & Sharpe and Tesa catalogs.

The indicator came yesterday, and I was finally able to accurately setup my two edge probes. It is very easy now to set the probe ball TIR to under 0.0001" and the repeatability when rotating the the edge probes and checking gauge blocks confirmed that they were indeed dialed in correctly. I have an electronic DROPros touch probe that came with my DRO, but I mostly use a mechanical Haimer which I find to be far more accurate and easier to use.

 

[hman]

That's a very nice looking dial - very easy to read!

 

[EmilioG]

Nice. The Compac is a superb gage. They are more expensive to buy and repair than an Interapid but a new Compac will last forever if taken care of.
I may still buy a Compac, new, but I don't like the unibody construction with the plated brass dovetails part of the body.
Congrats!