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[EdK]

(10-12-2024, 12:44 PM)rleete Wrote: I have a couple of countersinks that are many years old and have seen better days.  After talking to the shop supervisor, he recommended a few brands which I looked up online.  Holy cow, I had no idea how expensive they were.  Typical sets of 5 are over $100.  Then, just as I was about to give up, the supervisor emailed me a link to a used set on eBay.

$16, but two aren't original to the set.  I stuck them in my cart, but had to take care of actual work, so I forgot about them.  15 minutes later, the seller offered them for $14.  SOLD!

These are M.A.Ford brand, and all are in decent condition.  Several look like they've never been used.  All are sharp enough to cut aluminum cleanly, which is what I use the most.



As an aside, I tried sharpening the old ones.  I put them in the lathe, ran the chuck backwards (slowly) and held a sharpening stone against the flutes.  It did seem to help clean up the flutes somewhat, although they are nowhere nearly as nice as the new set.  Since the old ones have a hex shank, the handle I use with them won't fit the new ones, which have a round shank.  Luckily, I had saved the drill chuck from the HF drill I stripped to make my power feed, and that combined with an old screwdriver handle works well.

Good score!

Most of my countersinks are M.A. Ford bought new from Enco individually as I needed them.

Ed

[Highpower]

I made the mistake of buying sets of Chinese zero-flute countersinks at first. Then I bought that set of MA Ford's after all the frustration I got from the cheap zero-flutes. Haven't looked back since. Later I lucked out on a big ole 1-1/4" single flute MA Ford countersink I found on ebay for a really good price. It will happily eat through almost anything.

[rleete]

Got the cup wheel I ordered, as well as a MT3 shank for it.  

Cup wheel has one small ding in the edge, but they were shown in the pictures, so I believe these are seconds, based on that and the price.

   

Only thing I am unsure of is the max RPM, but as I will be using this on the mill, I don't believe it will be an issue.  I actually have a diamond dresser from work, so I will be able to clean up that edge and true the wheel.

Next was an arbor to hold the wheel.  MT3 to fit my mill, and 1/2-20 thread.  I'll need to make a nut for it.  I was pleasantly surprised by this one, as it was really cheap.  No scratches, burrs or dings in it and the thread is clean and sharp.  

   

[EdK]

(10-26-2024, 10:19 AM)rleete Wrote: Next was an arbor to hold the wheel.  MT3 to fit my mill, and 1/2-20 thread.

Does the tang end have a thread for a draw bar?

Ed

[rleete]

No, it does not. To be honest, I only use the drawbar with collets. When I'm using a drill chuck or boring head, I don't use the drawbar.

[Highpower]

Linear loads on a Morse taper are fine. Radial loads not so much. Been there, done that.

[Highpower]

For the life of me I could not remember where I got my cup wheel set-up. After digging through a whole bunch of receipts I finally found it. I got them from MSC. 3/4" straight shank stub milling arbor and Norton cup wheel. I see the cost of the wheel has doubled since I bought mine.  
With the straight shank in a collet, no worries about breaking a taper loose.