Of all the tools I got....

[wrustle]

(07-08-2013, 10:55 PM)PixMan Wrote: I never used them for holding onto work pieces, so things may be different (though I can't see how.)

Funny you say that, as I have a job in my Okuma right now that I'm using an ER20 Collet to hold stock. Works great.....but like you said.....as long as the stock is located in most of the way.

ER20 collet chuck (some traveling gypsy tool guy sold me four or five or these for cheap!) in my 10" Cnc hydraulic chuck, holding .250" dia. 464 Naval Brass rods.



Making these little spacers for our aerospace customer. Nothing super fussy, reamed .1248" dia. thru, cutoff .254" long +/-.002".





Carry on folks.......

Best Regards,
Russ

[PixMan]

You need to add a CNC screw machine to your list of machines to buy in the future. I know a guy really well who can help you find one for cheap and train you how to use it. Those parts would take less than a 1/2 hour to set up, done in ten minutes.

Back on topic...

I threw the spindexer onto the machine tonight and milled the 1.480" hex in 2 minutes. Tomorrow I'll try to find time to mill the counterbore and drill the holes. After that, I'll be making little oddball sized pins and be wishing *I* had a screw machine!

[Mayhem]

(07-09-2013, 09:49 PM)PixMan Wrote: ...After that, I'll be making little oddball sized pins and be wishing *I* had a screw machine!

Now I can see why Russ needs to get a screw machine!

[PixMan]

Last night I took a few minutes (literally) to find a 1" 5C collet, snug up the part in the spindexer and mill the hex. No CNC ops required for this. I used a 1/2" 3-flute YG (brand) solid carbide TiAlN-coated end mill, 1800rpm and fed by hand.



No, I didn't hit the indexing wheel on the spindexer, my dad admitted to doing that. I forgive him.

Tonight, I went over to the shop and put the part in a vise to mill the recess on the back and drill the pin holes. Man, what a joy it is to just punch a couple of buttons and get the job done!

Here you can see I've roughed out the recess using a DataFlute 3/8" TiAlN-coated 4-flute solid carbide end mill. The tool you see is a heavy metal (high tungsten content) bull nose milling cutter that a friend handed me a few years ago. This was my first opportunity to use it. I think it might be a Widia brand, not sure. I also don't know the maker, grade, chipbreaker or coating of the inserts. I had to play it safe and ran at 294sfm (1800 rpm) and 8 inches per minute for a .0015" per tooth feed rate.



Here's the bull nose cutter in action:




After the recess was complete, I used the "Bolt Circle" function on the Prototrak Plus control to spot and drill the six holes for pins. I had great fun tonight! All that remains is to rough mill the square drive, file the corners square, make the pins and pound them in.

Perhaps tomorrow, probably the weekend as my brother arrives from NC (again) tomorrow.

[EdK]

It sure is mesmerizing watching CNC do its job.

Ed

[PixMan]

I forgot to add the photo of the part with the hole pattern in it. With the mating piece on the bike side by side you see the part start to make sense.



If I were trying to do this on the old Bridgeport, I would have sprung for the hex collet block and indexed for the hex and the holes all at once. I do have a rotary table, but just the standard faceplate and no chuck. If I'd tried doing the hole pattern with coordinates, I'd likely be out of position. This CNC, even though only two axis, is making life so much easier.

[PixMan]

Tonight's progress, got the 1/2" square drive done using a 1/8" four flute solid carbide (uncoated) Bassett double ended end mill. I was afraid to do this with the end mill being just barely long enough to get through the piece because I thought for sure it would break in the corners.

Running it at 3300 rpm and 1.5 inches per minute, I took three depth cuts of only .015" width and about .090 deep. Starting with a hole drilled using a 12mm (0.4724") through, the first climb milling cuts into the corners were scary but the end mill never dug in nor squealed in protest. It cut like butter! At the programmed size of .500", it actually came out at .494" square. I reprogrammed to .510 and cut the finish pass to .003 (versus .010), the square finished at .505".




I had measured several 1/2" drive extensions and a Crapsman ratchet, across the rounded off corners of the fairly new tools measured less than the distance of my milled square socket, so I didn't have to file the corners to a sharper square. Nice!

Making pins tomorrow and pressing them in. Them the final test fit. I'll let you know how it goes.

[EdK]

It's looking good Ken! Thanks for sharing the process. It sure helps us less experienced machinists.

Ed

[DaveH]

Nicely done Ken

DaveH

[wrustle]

Way to go Ken, nicely done!

If you need a press for pressing the pins in I have three here and you can use them anytime you need too.

A one ton arbor press, a five ton arbor press.......oh.....and a 12 ton hydraulic press.....just in case those pins come out a bit oversize!

Later,
Russ