Tormach Super fly

[mikey]

It looks like a pretty standard fly-cutter design (unlike, say, the B-52).
What makes the Super-fly worth the extra cost? The cutting tool (/toolbar) itself? Because those are available for sixty bucks, a much more reasonable investment if you already have a ton of fly cutters lying about.

If you take a look around, there aren't a lot of decent inserted carbide fly cutters for sale. The Superfly can cut a swath from about 3" out to around 6", which is not a bad range. The tool holder itself is beefy enough and is held rigidly enough by the TTS collet to essentially eliminate chatter, even with heavy cuts. I have taken 0.075" deep passes in aluminum at 1200 rpm on a 6" wide work piece without a hint of chatter, and this is on a mill with only a 1HP Baldor motor. Lighter cuts at higher rpm improve the finish, especially with a climb cut. I usually do 0.020" deep cuts in steel at 400-600 rpm that also leave a very nice finish. The tool uses positive rake cutters that work well enough on my low HP mill and they have a very good service life. I've been using this tool for a few years now and I'm still on the original steel and aluminum cutting inserts. While the finish these inserts leave is not a mirror finish, its close and the surface is flat enough to accurately square a part. So yes, it is a good tool and given what it can do and how it performs its task, yes, it is worth the cost, at least to me.

The one thing this tool does not do is cut to a shoulder. That is where I think the B-52 is better, but the B-52 is a fixed length cutter which I do not like. Can't have everything.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

Just curious. I seem to be a magnet for that style of fly cutter, and must have a half-dozen fly cutter holders in that style.

Might give the Tormach carbide toolbit a go in one of them - sounds like that may be where the magic lies