01-15-2018, 02:39 AM
Well its now got slots. Not what I'd call good slots, but slots nonetheless.
Some vertical, some horizontal. I managed to take a photo that doesn't show how rough they really are
First time I've plunged with a slot drill, and it didn't go all that well. I had one flange clamped vertically in the vice, cutting the slots on the horizontal flange with a 10mm 2-flute HSS slot drill.
Locked the X and Y axis but still had the whole lot wriggling around on me and the plunge holes were quite oversize. I know you should't use a 10mm slot drill if you want a 10mm slot, but my max RPM on the mill is 1465 RPM so really only just fast enough to spin the 10mm. Also the slot size wasn't critical as long as it could take the 3/8" clamping studs that I've got for the mill so I decided just to go with the 10mm cutter.
Hindsight has me thinking that it would have been better to clamp it directly to the table (flange down) using some spacer blocks or machinist jacks underneath. Flange up wouldn't give enough clearance on the ER32 collet holder I'm using. Probably using an 8mm slot drill would have been better than the 10mm too.
As a milling newbie its been a really good learning project and will hopefully be a useful tool.
Steve
Some vertical, some horizontal. I managed to take a photo that doesn't show how rough they really are
First time I've plunged with a slot drill, and it didn't go all that well. I had one flange clamped vertically in the vice, cutting the slots on the horizontal flange with a 10mm 2-flute HSS slot drill.
Locked the X and Y axis but still had the whole lot wriggling around on me and the plunge holes were quite oversize. I know you should't use a 10mm slot drill if you want a 10mm slot, but my max RPM on the mill is 1465 RPM so really only just fast enough to spin the 10mm. Also the slot size wasn't critical as long as it could take the 3/8" clamping studs that I've got for the mill so I decided just to go with the 10mm cutter.
Hindsight has me thinking that it would have been better to clamp it directly to the table (flange down) using some spacer blocks or machinist jacks underneath. Flange up wouldn't give enough clearance on the ER32 collet holder I'm using. Probably using an 8mm slot drill would have been better than the 10mm too.
As a milling newbie its been a really good learning project and will hopefully be a useful tool.
Steve