09-11-2015, 09:38 AM
Hi Chaps
Pete's post got me thinking of when I needed an odd size woodruff cutter to cut the key seat in my CUB lathe cross slide lead screw I was making , I actually though I had this base covered
as I have a good selection of said cutters ,but there is always one you dont have . So being Sunday as well I set about making one from the end of a drill bit .
The drill bit .
The MT shanks are soft enough to turn and are HSS , so a quick zip with a zip disc and off came the hard fluted part .
I gave the centre a quick clean up to remove the rust and crud .
Then slapped it in the Boxford lathe for a spin .
Ruffed the shank down .
Finished to size , ready to cut some relief.
Parting off .
Spun round in the chuck , cutter od turned to finish size and some relief on the outer face being put on . I used magic marker to see were I was at as I did not want the
cutter to end up to narrow .
Job still in the chuck , chuck removed from lathe and fit to dividing head .
Teeth cut .
Cutting edge relief .
Sorted .
Now to harden it ( not the correct way to treat HSS ) I just heated it up cherry ,held it for a minute and stuck it into a bucket of water .
I did not have a TCG at the time so a few strokes with a wet stone and off I went .
Job done
Rob
Pete's post got me thinking of when I needed an odd size woodruff cutter to cut the key seat in my CUB lathe cross slide lead screw I was making , I actually though I had this base covered
as I have a good selection of said cutters ,but there is always one you dont have . So being Sunday as well I set about making one from the end of a drill bit .
The drill bit .
The MT shanks are soft enough to turn and are HSS , so a quick zip with a zip disc and off came the hard fluted part .
I gave the centre a quick clean up to remove the rust and crud .
Then slapped it in the Boxford lathe for a spin .
Ruffed the shank down .
Finished to size , ready to cut some relief.
Parting off .
Spun round in the chuck , cutter od turned to finish size and some relief on the outer face being put on . I used magic marker to see were I was at as I did not want the
cutter to end up to narrow .
Job still in the chuck , chuck removed from lathe and fit to dividing head .
Teeth cut .
Cutting edge relief .
Sorted .
Now to harden it ( not the correct way to treat HSS ) I just heated it up cherry ,held it for a minute and stuck it into a bucket of water .
I did not have a TCG at the time so a few strokes with a wet stone and off I went .
Job done
Rob