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Indexable toolholder grinding/milling/shaping

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Martin Brundell27/04/2011 07:26:05
29 forum posts
Hi, I have stumbled onto an almost limitless supply of free WNMG 0604 carbide tooling inserts for lathe turning - however I only have 14mm height on my toolpost. I was going to buy a wnmg toolholder so that I could use the wnmg tips but the smallest toolholder I can find has a 16mm height.
 
Question: Can the 16mm toolholder be millled/ground down by 2mm to accomadate my toolpost? I have a wm280VF lathe and dont really do any heavy turning (mostly delrin and aluminium) so the loss of 2mm won't really a factor in loss of tool stability/rigidity. e.g. I use 12mm toolholders now with no problem.
 
It would be a shame to pass up free indexable tips.
 
thanks
Steve
Thor 🇳🇴27/04/2011 08:22:24
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1766 forum posts
46 photos
Hi Steve
If the toolholder shank isn't too hard it should be possible to mill down 2mm with a carbide tool. The loss of rigidity should not pose much problem if you are turning delrin or aluminium.
 
Thor
Clive Hartland27/04/2011 09:24:44
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2929 forum posts
41 photos
I have had to mill off a couple of mm on some of my inherited tool shanks and I even milled off a couple of mm off the base of the tool holder as well!
I have had no problems at all.
This came about because I fitted an EMCO QC tool post to my Myford.
Carbide tooling will remove hard metal!
 
Clive PS Never kick a gift horse in the mouth, adapt accordingley.

Edited By Clive Hartland on 27/04/2011 09:25:15

Nicholas Farr27/04/2011 09:29:56
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3988 forum posts
1799 photos
Hi Martin, I agree with Clive's PS, after all what have you got to loose.
 
Regards Nick.
Pat27/04/2011 09:40:00
94 forum posts
1 photos
Hi Steve
 
Cut back the bottom of the index bit holder but confine the cut back so as to leave as much metal as possible near the screw that clamps the insert. Also check that the insert is going to be at center height when mounted in your tool post. One of the delights of insert tooling is the ability to change inserts without having to reset tool height.
 
Regards - Pat
Martin Brundell27/04/2011 10:09:11
29 forum posts
Great - thanks for the advice - much appreciated
 
Steve
Ian S C27/04/2011 13:46:50
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7468 forum posts
230 photos
I make my own tool holders, they are not flash looking but the work as well as the bought ones, the best one is made from a bit of truck back axle half shaft, it was hard going, I only had HSS tooling to turn it, but after 20 years or so its still going well, blowed if I was paying $NZ150 for a little bit of steel that I could make up in an hour or so. But I did take 2 mm off the bottom of a friends parting tool (one with a carbide tip), he got it with the second hand combined mill / lathe (he seems to think now that he should have bought two separate machines, we tried telling him, but it was too cheap). Ian S C
Roderick Jenkins27/04/2011 14:11:58
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2376 forum posts
800 photos
I tried milling the bottom off a QC tool only this weekend and failed dismally, it was too hard for an HHS endmill - a solid TC endmill would probably have been OK. I've made my own holders from mild steel and they have been fine. If you do this I suggest that you off-set the holding screw hole towards the back corner slightly to ensure the the tip snugs up nicely. I have assumed that the holders are expensive because they are accurately made so that they can be interchanged in CNC machines without losing position - can anyone confirm this?
 
Rod
John Coates27/04/2011 15:39:58
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558 forum posts
28 photos
Martin

I've milled a couple of mill off my tool holders to fit my QCTP which was case hardened and had to be bored out from 7/16ths to 1/2"

So let adaptation and modification be your guide!

John

(On holiday sitting in the sun by the side of a loch in the Great Glen)
John Coates27/04/2011 15:50:36
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558 forum posts
28 photos
I had to mill a couple of mm off my tool holders and open the bore of the case hardened QCTP from 7/16ths to 1/2" so have no fear of modding

John
John Coates27/04/2011 15:55:42
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558 forum posts
28 photos
Sorry. Stupid Blackberry doesn't show when I've successfully posted. Hence the multiple postings
chris stephens27/04/2011 19:09:30
1049 forum posts
1 photos
Hi Martin/Steve,
Not that you should look a gift horse in the mouth, or any other orifice, but are you sure that your tips are any good for your intended purpose?
Both Delrin and Aluminium NEED a SHARP cutting edge in order to achieve a clean and accurate finish.
chriStephens
Ian S C28/04/2011 12:49:03
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7468 forum posts
230 photos
I seem to remember that with the tool that I took down I took off a bit over 1 mm with the angle grinder, I did'nt check, but the tool holder may have been case hardened. Ian S C
Ian Welford08/05/2011 21:13:04
300 forum posts
Chris
 
Sorry if this suggestion to seems dim but with diamond slip files or a diamond wheel ( cheap at Harrogate last year ( £10 for 4 " wheel fine grit!) you can get a really fine tip / edge on carbide. Been doing this on router bits for years . OK the edge might not last over long but on delrin should be ok. Not sure about build up on Aluminium- was ok to rout but that was an accidental discovery a few years back.
 
On router bits mind you you count the number of strokes to each side of the cutter to maintain the dynamic balance. ( or it vibrates a lot and must be discarded / refined again! ).
 
Only 5 days to Harrogate !! Oh joy!
 
Ian.
chris stephens09/05/2011 23:20:11
1049 forum posts
1 photos
Hi Ian,
Of course you can sharpen TC inserts, but you will never be able to achieve as sharp an edge as you can with HSS, its all to do with the size of a grain structure. I does also seem a bit of over kill to use TC on materials which can be machined with high rake tooling, but it's a free world and I am not going to try to stop anybody doing something that works for them.
Harrogate, now you are trying to make me jealous.
chriStephens

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