Boring Head Interchangeability

Plum Creek

Plum Creek

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I need to cut 4, 5" holes in 1" low carbon steel. The holes are near the ends of 24" material, so they won't fit on the rotary table on the Birmingham mill. I have several insert type Valenite boring heads ranging up to 3", but no drive. Since these are more of a commercial line there seems to be a lack of used R8 drives available. I was wondering if the 3" might fit a (3") Criterion drive? I can't seem to find any specs on the dovetail mount.
 
R8 arbors to fit a boring head should be pretty universal, though there are several thread sizes. What kind of connection is on the top of your boring head(s)?
 
Pics and no text. Interesting, its usually the other way around.
Thanks Bob for the reply.
Im attempting this with my cell phone so pardon my errors.
As pictured, all I have is the head from the dovetail down.
 
It is not much good without the other parts, though you can try to make some... or find some... You are missing much more than just the arbor...
 
I thought that would probably be the case. I guess I was hoping that there might be some standardization and my heads would fit a Criterion. I hate to spend money on waterjetting the holes when I could buy or make a tool.
I have another week or two before it becomes time critical.
Thanks
 
That appears to me to be a boring head intended for use on a fixed bar. I have a couple of Sandvik heads like that. They are not intended to fit the sliding dovetails of a boring head at all.
 
Hi Tony
Not that they are correct, but I have seen pics of them attached to cat 40 And cat 50 collets.
I have a variety of them mostly in the 3T6 family. HBN 44 is the one that was pictured. I will post a pic of the entire lot.
 
Correct. What you have, with the Vari-Set, is a combination purpose head. It can be affixed to a holder that might vary anywhere from R8 up, depending on what diameter it is. Those can be set much like a standard boring head. Or it an be used on a solid bar for use in a lathe. I have 2 of them, one I'll probably never use, as it is left handed. But the other, even though it is set up for my least favorite style insert (triangle) I will use for roughing on the larger lathe I have. It's a 4" diameter, so I will have to build a special holder for it, or remove the Aloris and fabricate an alternate mount. If I were being realistic, I'd admit I'll never get to it. But it's there if I ever have a job come in that needs it.
 
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