milling machine tooling for wood (stocks)

[bbaley]

Hi,
I occasionally work on or make a new stock from raw wood or blanks,
and I have a few jigs I use routers to remove most stock.

In a most cases I have used my mill for finish passes and things I need to keep accurate.

My question is, have any of you found tooling (bits) that will mill wood/synthetics reasonable at mill speeds as oposed to router speeds? (2k vs 20k)
I would like to use my small mill more often for this task but not sure what tooling I might be successful with and don't want to spend a bunch of $$$$ in the trial and error game if possible..

For reference, up to now I would make a jig, route (using a wood router), chisel close to done, then on certain operations where I need tolerance, put on mill, ( again in a jig/fixture) - then clean-up and bring to spec, etc. but wow what a process.
what tooling have you used that works decently at lower RPM where more of the process could be done in mill? (yes I have considered a router spindle build)

I'd like to pop a rough stock into the the "vise" (fixture) and hog out the majority of the in-letting and so forth (manually not CNC)

Anyway, your input greatly appreciated.

 

[f350ca]

You could try HSS router bits. They can be honed to a really sharp edge with beter clearance angles than carbide, or just a HSS end mill. I've had good results but my mill spins up to about 3400 rpm

Greg

 

[middle.road]

I use what I'll call 'Planer Discs' (for lack of a better description) on the mill(s).
I've used them on all types of wood with good results. On the Index I ran them @~800RPM and on the BP I've run them @~1000RPM.
Good finish and they are easily sharpened.
The silver one, 'Wagner Safe-T-Plane' is still available.

**NOTE: I've ALWAYS used these with the work piece clamped down, never freehand.
I don't much care for the premise of using the Wagner in a drill press and sliding the work piece under it. Too scary for me.

The green one I picked up somewhere along the way in the last (30) years. Have to remember to run it in reverse. The blades in it sharpen up very nicely.

I also use 1" DIA. / 3/4" shank, 2-flute end mills (re-grinds), and other 2-flute end mills.

I've done up everything from planed & rough sawn stock to logs.
............

 

[Downwindtracker2]

It goes without saying, you would want to use HSS endmills. as they will be sharper than carbide and with the slow speed of a mill, even at it's fastest, you won't overheat. More flutes the merrier. My gunsmith friend has used his RF-45 for inletting, but I have never asked him what he did. He lives at the other side of the province.

I had a chance to purchase a Rockwell overhead pin router, which is the tool we are looking for. His price was too high for a non-working machine.

Considering jigging time, I'm just going to use bench chisels for that final touch.. The wood handled Swedish ones have great balance but the new powdered metal Lee Valley uses will hold a sharp many times longer. In fact longer than any other chisel made, even the Japanese ones. But that gets you into the whole zen of sharpening. Paul didn't have as much of a revelation on the road to Damascus , as I had using a truly sharp Swedish chisel. The steel in old American chisels is just as good, but the design is much sturdier making the chisel clumsy.

 

[pacifica]

It goes without saying, you would want to use HSS endmills. as they will be sharper than carbide and with the slow speed of a mill, even at it's fastest, you won't overheat. More flutes the merrier. My gunsmith friend has used his RF-45 for inletting, but I have never asked him what he did. He lives at the other side of the province.

I had a chance to purchase a Rockwell overhead pin router, which is the tool we are looking for. His price was too high for a non-working machine.

Considering jigging time, I'm just going to use bench chisels for that final touch.. The wood handled Swedish ones have great balance but the new powdered metal Lee Valley uses will hold a sharp many times longer. In fact longer than any other chisel made, even the Japanese ones. But that gets you into the whole zen of sharpening. Paul didn't have as much of a revelation on the road to Damascus , as I had using a truly sharp Swedish chisel. The steel in old American chisels is just as good, but the design is much sturdier making the chisel clumsy.

Hss aluminum end mills (2 flute) have worked for me. Run at the highest speed your mill has.

 

[Big Bore Builder]

Cutters and tracers for my gunstock duplicator. Spindles run at 11,000 RPM. HSS and Carbide.

Chisels? Ummm

 

[Winegrower]

My woodworking equipment is generally faster and smoother than metal stuff, but occasionally it's more convenient to put a part on the mill. For example, mortising is pretty convenient for odd angles or awkward shaped pieces, even though I have a wood mortiser.

 

[Winegrower]

Forgot to add, I use HSS endmills, also two flute as previously mentioned. For small jobs, Bridgeport available RPMs seems adequate.

 

[derf]

I build stocks for a living, and all the inletting is done a Bridgeport mill. Despite what the others have said about HSS tooling, I've had the best luck with solid carbide router bits. I use 3/8" shank commercial bits because they are stiffer and longer than what most routers use. Even with the vfd on my mill, I usually run them @ 5500 rpm with no problems. I also use some carbide face "lollypop" cutters for barrel and receiver channels. these can be had very reasonable from Grizzly.
For the best cut with no tearout, I use a spiral single flute cutter, and in some instances a down cut spiral bit.
I start out by decking the top of the stock or barrel channel with a 2" face mill to establish a plane for reference.

Once that is done, it is placed in a fixture to accurately mark the centers for the duplicator.

A hole is drilled for the rear trigger guard screw, and that is what the inlet is referenced to.

I made this stock holding jig with a pin that aligns with the hole in the stock to set the zero's.
I use a 1-1/4 lolly pop cutter to cut the receiver channel and a 1" and 3/4" for the barrel channel.

The inlet for the trigger,etc is done with a 3/8 spiral bit.

Once the top side is done, the stock is flipped over and located by a secondary fixture for the bottom cuts.

A good source for industrial router bits: magnate.net

 

[bbaley]

I build stocks for a living, and all the inletting is done a Bridgeport mill. Despite what the others have said about HSS tooling, I've had the best luck with solid carbide router bits. I use 3/8" shank commercial bits because they are stiffer and longer than what most routers use. Even with the vfd on my mill, I usually run them @ 5500 rpm with no problems. I also use some carbide face "lollypop" cutters for barrel and receiver channels. these can be had very reasonable from Grizzly.
For the best cut with no tearout, I use a spiral single flute cutter, and in some instances a down cut spiral bit.
I start out by decking the top of the stock or barrel channel with a 2" face mill to establish a plane for reference.
View attachment 283229
Once that is done, it is placed in a fixture to accurately mark the centers for the duplicator.
View attachment 283230
A hole is drilled for the rear trigger guard screw, and that is what the inlet is referenced to.
View attachment 283231
I made this stock holding jig with a pin that aligns with the hole in the stock to set the zero's.
I use a 1-1/4 lolly pop cutter to cut the receiver channel and a 1" and 3/4" for the barrel channel.
View attachment 283232
The inlet for the trigger,etc is done with a 3/8 spiral bit.
View attachment 283233
Once the top side is done, the stock is flipped over and located by a secondary fixture for the bottom cuts.
View attachment 283234
A good source for industrial router bits: magnate.net

thanks derf!