Member postings for Chris V

Thank you all.

Ega, can you elaborate, what is an adjustable keep, I'm a beginner!

Thanks Old Mart & Clive, well I'm glad it isnt such a daft idea after all, now I have good food for thought!

Chris.

Andrew, if you look at the last photo on http://www.lathes.co.uk/amolco/ you can see at least one other has used the same vice, though of course that dosen't mean it is entirely suitable/recommended!

Chris.

Hi Andrew, the Record vice worked fine for this my first proper Milling job.

The cutter came loose in the 2MT Myford collet, nothing to do with the vice but shows if nothing else the vice held the work ok under load.

I did get a proper milling vice with the mill but have yet to make the hold down blocks to secure it to the mill bed, its the type with holes for clamping and blocks for these don't seem to be available.

Others with more experience may be able to point to downsides of this type of vice for milling?

Chris.

Thank you for that Clive, well that's encouraging then, I shall give that idea some serious thought!

Chris.

Thank you Jason, your help was invaluable!

Cheers

Chris.

Having just used my Amolco bench top mill for my first small project I find the working height is currently too low. Its sitting on a sturdy oak topped bench so I'm thinking of making some sort of plinth for it. I have considered getting a stool but don't consider that would be safe practice to use the mill, certainly as its all new to me!

So what i'm thinking is making a couple of 2" x 2" (or similar)hardwood frames to sit one on top of the other to raise the mill 4" or so. There's no provision to bolt the mill down, well no holes and I do need to slide the mill left & right if I'm using the bandsaw or drill either side. But if I make the frames wider than the mills footprint I should be able to fit some location clips so the unit moves as one.

So, does this seem like a sound plan?

Also its a shame the space under the mill will be wasted, but I have not been able to come up with an idea that is readily made, sturdy enough etc etc with space for tooling etc.

Any ideas greatly appreciated as always! Photo below.

Chris.

Quick update on the chuck keys, 2.5 finished just need to order some more bar stock for the last handle.

Overall i'm very pleased with the result, certainly far from perfect but they fit, will do the job and look & feel good to me. Thanks all for your help, of course this first M type/mill project has raised more questions to follow separately!

Chris.

Thank you Jason,

Right I think I should stock up on a few different cutters. I just had another go and boy at 325rpm the mill and I are much happier!

Another advantage of this simple set up I found is when on the last cut the cutter comes loose in the 2MT collet it didn't ruin the work! Thing is I'm so used to woodwork cutting speeds I'm having to re learn, I shall also periodically check for collet tightness in future!.

I did look at Arceuro for bevel endmills that might be suitable for my little mill but so far haven't found any?

Thank you Ian P.

Yes I agree with all that, in the first photo of this thread I showed 4 chuck keys, the top one is new and the worst to look at, thin, not waisted and look at the mess they made of the end! This was the second key I bought for a chuck I have, neither of them fitted either! Hence my determination to at least try and make a better job, inspired by the bottom key shown of the 4.

My keys will be waisted, what I should have done was turn the end down on the lathe to reduce the amount of milling, that will be more efficient. I will try that on the second one.

Cheers

Chris.

Thank you Hopper. Its the material that is 5/8" dia, the cutter is 12mm but get that its still too fast.

The square end will be 1/4".

I have options of 325, 650, 1100 and 1600, so looks like 650 or would 325 be better?

Apologies for being thick but I don't understand the formula, but thank you!?!

Chris.

Right then thanks everybody. The photos above show how far I got last night, about 1 hrs worth of milling.

Its a HSS cutter, one I was given, feels sharp but might not be unused. 1600 RPM, as that's what the mill was set at. The material is 16mm dia silver steel, chips are like coarse filings. I was taking off about 8 divisions (8 thou?) at a time. All was going well enough but the further I cut into the bar I'm finding I am having to take finer cuts as the mill seems to protest as I reach the end of my cuts (the radius). On reflection I should have turned the end of the bar down on the lathe to reduce the amount of milling required.

Does the above all look & sound fine?

Chris.

Yes I see now, didn't understand that bit, I think the nut will now act as a stop for when I turn the part round.

Thank you all

Chris.

Ian P, thank you! My thoughts on this were no I don't understand, repeat, repeat, repeat...ah! b

Brilliant, yes got it! (-:

Thank you.

Emgee, thanks yes I might try filing it, then later if it looks rough i can try machining it. Ah yes I was thinking about using the collet nut as the stop but now you mention it i can see that would not work at 45 degrees!

Bazyle, Looking at 1/2" end mills online they all seem to have sharp corners? Maybe you can get them with the rounded corners you suggest, or do you mean I should try to grind the radius myself?

Martin Connelly, would that cut the flats by feeding it into the end of the bar, or just cut the detailing? Whats one of those cutters called?

Right I better get out to the shed!

Many thanks!

Chris.

Ah thanks for that Jason, I like it. I think I might have a flycutter, though that's a whole new level of scary!

So you mean its akin to grinding a custom cutter for the lathe?

I shall go and find it, think about it, then probably make a simple one for now I think as I'd like to get my lathe set up before I go too deep down that rabbit hole!

Cheers

Chris.

To help me set my 4 jaw chuck I need to make a couple of chuck keys. Ive barely used my Amolco mill as yet but would like to make them as aesthetically pleasing as the one pictured above indicated by the pencil. I have a square ER32 collet block so if i can find a suitable length of bar to fit it milling the 4 flats should be ok. I was thinking of milling it with the round bar horizontal.

But its how to add the bevel detail? I could probably make a good mess of it with a file, but was wondering how those with experience would mill the details?

Mill the flats horizontally then set the collet block at 45 degrees in a vice?

Mill it all with the bar vertical & then the details at 45 degrees?

Thanks in advance!

Chris.

Hi Mark, thanks for this but its the Ali (Aluminium) one I found this morning. If it were steel I'd go for it but seems way too much to me for Ali. Also found a steel one on eBay but its from India, so that's another no go, once bitten and all that.

Looks like I may have to have a go at making one, or maybe a set utilising a fixed steady to hold the free end for centre drilling. I'm thinking a spot drill will be better for the actual drilled depression rather than a centre drill.

Chris.

Hi Howard,

I'm in Somerset. Are you offering? (-: If so yes please and let me know how much....

Chris.

Thanks Bazyle, yes good point, I have some light sewing machine oil I can use.

Thanks Roy, the rule trick is how I found out it was out of line! Compound magnifying glass is already on order (-: plus another for spare for when I cannot find the compound one!

Chris.

Since last year I have been considering one of these but cannot find much info on them, based on a Heinric design, has anyone built one?

Chris.

Hi again David, I just realised you didn't actually say don't use the tailstock, I just assumed!

Thanks

Chris.