Boring heads for the mill

[TomG]

Dan,

I would recommend getting the larger head. It will have much more useful range than the small one with little penalty for it's additional size. Criterion makes excellent boring heads and if you can afford it, a boring and facing head will allow you to not only bore a hole, but face the bottom of it as well.

I would not recommend using replaceable inserts in a boring head. Preventing chatter is always a challenge when boring and the best way to do that is to use razor sharp tooling with small nose radii. Boring bars with brazed inserts will fill that requirement, or better yet, high speed steel. Carbide tooling is almost never appropriate for the hobby machinist.

Tom

[DaveH]

(06-21-2012, 12:35 PM)TomG Wrote: Carbide tooling is almost never appropriate for the hobby machinist.
Tom

Tom,

I see, you wanna fight

Pulling your leg Tom, but it is a bit of a wide sweeping statement


DaveH

[RobWilson]

Hi Lads

I have two boring heads ,,, a Wohlhaupter boring and facing head .

And a much smaller one ,,,,,,,,, of the cheap and cheerfull variety.


comes in very handy when space is tight .



I use carbide and HSS tooling in both .


Rob

[TomG]

(06-21-2012, 01:43 PM)DaveH Wrote:

(06-21-2012, 12:35 PM)TomG Wrote: Carbide tooling is almost never appropriate for the hobby machinist.
Tom

Tom,

I see, you wanna fight

Pulling your leg Tom, but it is a bit of a wide sweeping statement


DaveH

Hey Dave, I'm always up for a good brawl.

Carbide tooling is appropriate for high volume applications (read production) or for difficult to machine materials like stainless or pre-hardened tool steels, but very few home or hobby machinists have machinery that is rigid enough or powerful enough to benefit from it. Carbide tooling is also quite expensive to use compared to high speed, inflexible (ever try to grind a carbide insert to fit a special application?) and the cutting edge, in the case of inserts is not nearly as sharp as high speed steel so it produces a poorer surface finish.

I'm always amazed at how many new machinists assume that carbide is the way to go instead of high speed steel. Maybe it's the fear of having to learn how to grind their own tools, although there are high speed steel inserts available, or maybe they just get sucked in by the advertising.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against using carbide for the right application and I often use it myself if appropriate. It's just that hobby machining is generally not the place for it.

Rob:

I used to have a Wholhaupter boring and facing head and they are simply amazing. Maybe one day I'll own one again.

Tom

[RobWilson]

(06-21-2012, 02:21 PM)TomG Wrote: Rob:

I used to have a Wholhaupter boring and facing head and they are simply amazing. Maybe one day I'll own one again.

Tom

Hi Tom ,,,,,,,,,,,,yes they are about the best of the best for boring heads , and the auto facing with quick return is the mutts nuts , It actually costs more than the machine i am using it on


RobWilson

[RobWilson]

I would have to agree with Tom

HSS tooling is the best way to go for the home shop ,as the cutting edge can be adjusted on the fly to suite the material being machined , learning to grinned tooling is defiantly a must ,rather than reaching for the TCT tooling ,,,much cheaper too .



RobWilson

[Keith_W]

Hi All,
I am new to this forum and would like to ask if you have had any expriances or knowledge of this Boring Head, Toolmaster VBHU.
I have bought this unit for my Mill but have not used it as yet as am making a few modifications to the Mill Control and fitting a VSD.

Regards,
Keith.

[TomG]

(06-22-2012, 03:33 PM)Keith_W Wrote: Hi All,
I am new to this forum and would like to ask if you have had any expriances or knowledge of this Boring Head, Toolmaster VBHU.
I have bought this unit for my Mill but have not used it as yet as am making a few modifications to the Mill Control and fitting a VSD.

Regards,
Keith.

Keith,

That looks like a knock off of the German made and much more pricey Wohlhaupter boring and facing head. If it's decent quality it should be a nice addition to your shop.

Tom

[PixMan]

I drool over the Wohlhaupter UVA facing and boring heads. I once had a job where I used on quite a bit, and there's no other boring head that can tough it's repeatability, rigidity and overall performance.

As for boring BARS, here's a photo of most of ones I use on the lathe:



From top to bottom are:

5/16" x 6", unknown make, solid carbide shank, steel head, coolant through, uses CCGT1.81.51 inserts. E05M-SCLCR1.81
3/8 x 8", unknown make, solid carbide shank, steel head, coolant through, uses TPGT21.5x inserts. E06R-STFCR-2
1/2" x 10", unknown make, solid carbide shank, steel head, uses TPGT21.5x inserts. E08-STUCR-2
5/8" x 12" Valenite VCND73, solid carbide shank, steel head, no coolant through, uses TPG22x inserts. In ANSI language, it would be C10T-TFPR-2
3/4" x 12" Valenite, steel shank, steel head, coolant through, uses DNxx-33x inserts. A12T-DDUNR-3
1" x 12" Parfana, steel shank, steel head, no coolant through, uses CNxx43x inserts. S16T-MCLNR-4
1-1/2" x 16" Valenite, steel shank, steel head, coolant through, uses CNxx43X inserts. A24V-DCLNR-4

I'll get a photo of some of the smaller ones later, including one Ø 1/4" insert type, a number of solid carbide (1/2" and under), and a set of brazed carbide.

[EdK]

Nice collection Ken. I'm slowly adding to mine.

Ed