Lathe and Mill Tooling

[Geoff]

I have been tooling up since I started machining, which was probably 1.5 years ago. As you all know, tooling isn't cheap and since I have a new addition to our family, i'm on a budget! Opposed to buying a bunch of tooling, I decided to start making various tool holders, arbors, and various other tools that are essential. I have stock so why not give it a try, right? These projects have been great with respect to getting time and experience on the machines and learning about various setups.

Thus far, I have made a few slitting saw arbors, insert tool holders, 3 jaw chuck key, face mill arbor, and a few others. I am currently making a R8 holder for 1" tooling (end mills or other cutting tools). My next projects will be an insert based 60 Deg. Dovetail cutter and then I will use that to make a bunch of QCTP holders. I have 2 of the standard QCTP holders and I am always changing the tools so about 4 more would be nice

Here are some pictures of the tooling that I have made and the R8 holder that I am currently working on. I'll add more pics this evening as I am missing some on my phone.

 

[PeterT]

Looking good. I think making tools is a noble pursuit, particularly when they are un-obtanium or you can produce something better in the shop. I have a long & growing list of projects. But two I want to get after is a mini universal DTI bore gage & a clamp style honing tool. I can put these to work pretty soon.

 

[Geoff]

I really like that DTI Bore gauge! Here is some more tooling and some more progress on the R8 1" holder. Pictures is a DNMG Tool holder and a face mill arbor (straight shank). The DNMG Tool holder was a bit of a challenge because of the 5 Deg. rake angle (compound). I don't have the right gear for the job so I improvised by tilting the vice and the tool! It was a bit of a hack but it worked and the tool works great! Time to bore out this 1" hole in the R8 holder.

 

[Tom Kitta]

Looks great. I only made a slitting saw arbour and a single flute facing endmill. Need to learn how to make accurate tapers on the lathe.

 

[Geoff]

You should post a pic if the single flute end mill.

 

[Geoff]

To do the R8 taper, I put a R8 collet in the 4 jaw, indicated it to like a few tenths and then used a dial test indicator in the tool post to get the exact angle that the compound needs to be rotated. You can just run up and down the taper until the DTI stays on zero for the length of the taper. Then you know your angle is dead on!! This method worked excellent for me. This was the first R8 taper that I turned. It fit very well in my mill. After boring it out to .992, I ran a 1" reamer into the bore. The fit of 1" tooling is perfect.... It's like a hydraulic fit and it makes a 'pop' when I pull a tool out. After mounting it in the mill, I measured runout of the bore and it's maybe 2-3 tenths, which is better than I was expecting. I'm very pleased with how this turned out (lol... No pun intended!!). You should give it a try and if it doesn't work out just right, learn from your mistakes!

Cheers!

 

[John Conroy]

Really nice work Geoff and Peter!

 

[PeterT]

Just to be clear, only Geoff gets credit for 'making'. Thus far I have only begun 'preliminary internet idea plagiarizing' !

Re clamp hone, I'm working up some design drawings & sourcing materials. I'm trying to simplify from pic shown where that fellow has some funky profile milling setups on rotary table to yield that pleasing shape. Mine is more blocky, but I hope the same functionality in the end. The nice thing, the top & bottom clamp are identical. But this yields a 1-face lap joint, his is a 2-face hinge-type joint (better). And I wont bother with the calibration clamping screw, just on/off/measure/repeat by feel. Sticks of abrasive stones are amazingly cheap now that I've started hunting.

Re bore gage, another me-redesign work-in-progress. I want to use a rectangular bar vs. his round bar with a key slot. And I'm just in the process of hunting down what must be the teeniest dovetail cutter to fit the DTI. So stay tuned on that.

 

[BradH]

Hey Peter: I had a small dovetail cutter... but broke it trying to touch off on the workpiece!

I like the DTI setup. There is a video on YouTube - Metal Tips and Tricks guy - he makes a DTI holder by hand-filing the dovetail. Not a big piece, so maybe the way to go?

 

[PeterT]

Brad, yes I heard they were very touchy. I've had an eye on ebay for 0.250" dovetail cutters, but no luck. Not real common in that size. Regular tooling suppliers carry them, usually carbide not HSS. I think the gun guys use them for sights but same price. However, there are a lot of DTI gizmos I want to make! My mag DTI holder is aluminum so I'm not sure steel is a prerequisite, although it would be nicer. I measured it & it has relief in the bottom which probably helps reduce the cutting action area? Maybe ideally only one side of the dovetail should cut climb milling, but that requires a much wider pilot slot & wont yield the required shape. So its probably plunge-in mode slow but steady. I'll ease into it with aluminum, see how it goes.

 

[PeterT]

ps - yes I caught that same youtube video. If I break the cutter, its plan B!

 

[Geoff]

I knocked out another lathe carbide tool holder. It holds CCMT inserts and it sure works good!! Here are a few pics.

 

[JohnW]

Congratulations Geoff, this is all really impressive work. I need to take on some inspiration from these projects! I'll be back to the thread in the future!

All the tooling is better than nearly free. Not only did you not have to pay taxes on the money you would have had to earn to buy this stuff, you got a bunch of hours of free entertainment and education / skills building out of the deal. Now just get the little one used to the sound of big machines in the background and you can babysit and work at the same time. Maybe a mosquito screen to protect him/her form the flying chips would be a good idea.

The only bad thing is that when people ask you what you do with all this big expensive equipment the answer is that you make accessories for it! I usually get a pretty dumb look back when I use that response. But, I think that is still way better the answer you get if you ask most people what they do with golf clubs and TVs.