09-11-2015, 04:02 AM
Being new to this milling caper, I think I need some advice on what appeared to be a simple task but my first attempt has come up no good.
I am in the process of making a shaft to replace one of the missing components of the power feed system on my mill.
The shaft has several features including two 1/4" keyways; one of these is 13" long and goes right to the end of the shaft, it drives a worm gear that moves along the shaft with the Y axis movement. The other keyway is about 1" long and drives a gear that is held in position by a circlip.
I spent about 2 hours getting everything set up, with the shaft held in 2 vices on the mill table, trammed in 3 dimensions. I found centre, locked the Y axis and proceeded to cut the long keyway first, with a 1/4" endmill held in an ER32 collet. This went okay, taking .020" cuts and a .005 finish cut, I'm quite happy with the way this came up and the key slides along the keyway no problem. (cutting a 13" keyway with no power feed is a pain, gotta get this thing working!)
I then did the shorter keyway, this is how I went about it and I'd be pleased to hear what I've done wrong;
I started by plunging the 1/4" endmill to depth at each end of the keyway, then backed out and took .020 cuts each way to the required depth; i.e. cut left to right, lift the knee .020", cut right to left, lift the knee .020", cut left to right etc. I zeroed the dials at each end of the table to give me a finish point at each end of the keyway. I also used plenty of cutting oil. Ran the cutter at approx 1000 RPM.
The finished keyway is a bit of a disaster; one side is straight but the other side has a curve, resulting in a bit of an egg-shaped keyway and a sloppy fit on the key steel. Naturally, this is almost the last operation on this part, all I had left to do was cut the slot for the circlip.
Tomorrow is Monday in my world so I won't get another go at this til late next week, I'd love to get some advice on how to get a satisfactory result before I try this again.
I am in the process of making a shaft to replace one of the missing components of the power feed system on my mill.
The shaft has several features including two 1/4" keyways; one of these is 13" long and goes right to the end of the shaft, it drives a worm gear that moves along the shaft with the Y axis movement. The other keyway is about 1" long and drives a gear that is held in position by a circlip.
I spent about 2 hours getting everything set up, with the shaft held in 2 vices on the mill table, trammed in 3 dimensions. I found centre, locked the Y axis and proceeded to cut the long keyway first, with a 1/4" endmill held in an ER32 collet. This went okay, taking .020" cuts and a .005 finish cut, I'm quite happy with the way this came up and the key slides along the keyway no problem. (cutting a 13" keyway with no power feed is a pain, gotta get this thing working!)
I then did the shorter keyway, this is how I went about it and I'd be pleased to hear what I've done wrong;
I started by plunging the 1/4" endmill to depth at each end of the keyway, then backed out and took .020 cuts each way to the required depth; i.e. cut left to right, lift the knee .020", cut right to left, lift the knee .020", cut left to right etc. I zeroed the dials at each end of the table to give me a finish point at each end of the keyway. I also used plenty of cutting oil. Ran the cutter at approx 1000 RPM.
The finished keyway is a bit of a disaster; one side is straight but the other side has a curve, resulting in a bit of an egg-shaped keyway and a sloppy fit on the key steel. Naturally, this is almost the last operation on this part, all I had left to do was cut the slot for the circlip.
Tomorrow is Monday in my world so I won't get another go at this til late next week, I'd love to get some advice on how to get a satisfactory result before I try this again.
Lathe (n); a machine tool used in the production of milling machine components.
Milling Machine (n); a machine tool used in the production of lathe components.
Milling Machine (n); a machine tool used in the production of lathe components.