Face milling tooling for a horizontal mill

N

nnam

Registered
Registered
Joined
Jul 15, 2016
Messages
707
For my Precision 500 Horizontal Mill, as a beginner, I want to get some tool holders for horizontal face mill, by which, I meant to remove the NMTB #40 arbor, and put a tool holder on it.

I am thinking of getting a NMTB 40 to ER32 or ER40 (or even 20) and a set of ER collets.
I also saw some NMTB adapter with a fixed size hole and fixed size rod/bolt for holding shell mill cutter.

It's a hobby, so I don't want to spend too much. Chinese made is fine as long as the precision is good enough (that's a problem I heard).

So what would you advice me to do?

Another question is about the arbor, it's 7/8" size. I have a few cutters that size, but I have a lot of 1" size cutters. I am thinking of buying a 7/8" to 1" adapter for that. I also saw 1 cutter has an adapter that looks like a right that does just that. Would you recommend that or just buy/make 1" arbor? I am not confident enough that I can make a good arbor yet, so any short cut would be good. I also would like to get things running for now, not having a big project. Once I am good at things, then I will look into making the arbors. I am also thinking of using one of those tool holders that takes 1" hole (or open it up to 1"), then make a 1" round rod with a slot, cut a left hand thread at the end and I got an arbor. Would that work? Maybe I need to heat treat the rod?

 
Your arbor should be hardened and ground to be accurate, otherwise cutters will be cutting on one or two teeth, the others' not reaching the work. (arbor won't be concentric.)
 
Last edited:
I have a set of ER40 collets from 1/8" to 1" on an NMTB 40, for use on my Victoria U2 mill. I wouldn't want to have anything smaller. It allows me to use (as mentioned) up to 1" straight-shaft tooling. I have to reverse the motor when using this, as compared to the full horizontal arbor, and operate the X- and Y-axis controls in the opposite direction. The mill is big enough to have 1' and 1 1/4" arbors.
 
I have a horizontal mill with a NMTB 40 spindle and I love my 3" face mill...... I also have a ER40 collet chuck and its a must have item..... I use a boring head on this machine frequently as well...
 
I have had good luck buying arbors on e bay for my #2 B&S, I have all the common sizes; I buy only good name brands, mostly B&S and have not had any that were bent. A soft arbor is more likely to get bent if hung up, but the hard ones are no stiffer than the soft ones, this includes such as boring bars as well, the modulus of elasticity is very nearly the same for hard, soft, alloy and mild steels.
 
benmychree said:
I have had good luck buying arbors on e bay for my #2 B&S, I have all the common sizes; I buy only good name brands, mostly B&S and have not had any that were bent. A soft arbor is more likely to get bent if hung up, but the hard ones are no stiffer than the soft ones, this includes such as boring bars as well, the modulus of elasticity is very nearly the same for hard, soft, alloy and mild steels.
Click to expand...

It's great to have so many helpful replies. On buying from eBay, do I have to check very careful the end part (after the nut) to make sure they fit?
I saw some arbors with the end part, some I only see the nut, not the cylinder bearing surface, not sure what's going on.
 
As you found out, there are two types of arbor, those with the extension and those without, the ones without use a "running bushing" that is larger in diameter than the spacing collars, and of course, the outboard support has a bore to match. Sometimes arbors have both the extension and the running bushing, and both types of outboard support are used, one near the cutter, and one at the end of the arbor to increase stiffness; my B&S mill has both, and I have both styles of arbor. The running bushing style of arbor is frequently longer than the other style.
 
benmychree said:
As you found out, there are two types of arbor, those with the extension and those without, the ones without use a "running bushing" that is larger in diameter than the spacing collars, and of course, the outboard support has a bore to match. Sometimes arbors have both the extension and the running bushing, and both types of outboard support are used, one near the cutter, and one at the end of the arbor to increase stiffness; my B&S mill has both, and I have both styles of arbor. The running bushing style of arbor is frequently longer than the other style.
Click to expand...

Is there any standard to the extension one, such as diameter and length? Since it maybe harden, I wonder if it's possible to "trim" it down to fit
 
On my arbors the extensions are nearly the same size, although some adjustment of the bearing is necessary with each one, possibly due to wear.
They are definitely hardened, may have to be ground to resize.
 
Have you considered a fly cutter?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top