Crazy idea or not? End mill holder for WT 15in drill press

[mattthemuppet2]

Finally got the chuck off

it took a lot of grinding and a dead bench grinder, but I finally made the wedges and got the chuck off. First time didn't work as the collar just dug into the wedge, but after heating the wedges to straw/ purple and then dropping them in some old oil they were just hard enough to force the chuck off. In fact, I was about to call it a day as I was getting uncomfortable with the amount of force I was putting on the vise when it popped off.



wedges


knurled collar


place where collar threads


up the taper's skirt, so to speak, so you can see how the collar would hold something onto the adapter


so, I've never worked with steel before - what would be the best type to use? I've heard a lot of people talk about 12L14 as being a good all round steel. I'm assuming that I won't need to harden the adapter, is that right?

Plan is to find a piece of rod about the thread ID of the collar, machine it down to leave a step so that it slips through the collar. Then bore the taper, turn it around and bore the 3/8th bore for the end mill, then drill through and tap for a bolt that I have laying around (if I need to get it off the taper with any force). Then drill and tap for a set screw to hold the end mill (mine have flats). How does that sound? Anything I'm missing?

 

[Overthehill]

It looks to me that the collar is meant to be unscrewed to assist in removing the chuck. It doesn't seem to be holding anything on unless there is a morse taper up in the quill. Regardless, the idea you have presented seems sound to me. Remembering that it will work on soft metals only and with that, keep the tool holder as short as possible. All the best, and good luck. :thumbzup:

 

[mattthemuppet2]

It looks to me that the collar is meant to be unscrewed to assist in removing the chuck. It doesn't seem to be holding anything on unless there is a morse taper up in the quill. Regardless, the idea you have presented seems sound to me. Remembering that it will work on soft metals only and with that, keep the tool holder as short as possible. All the best, and good luck. :thumbzup:

yup, that's supposed to be how it works, although after a few decades it's not so effective The collar is supposed to hold on a spindle adapter or a collet chuck, which were available at the time, so there's some precedent to what I'm proposing I guess. The collar thread ID is a hair over 1in, so I found a length of 1" 12L14 on Exact Metals for not much money (plus a bunch of other useful stuff) which will minimise the amount I'll need to take off the outside of the adapter. I also measured the gap between the inside surface of the collar and the bottom of the spindle nose when the collar has all the spindle threads engages and it's ~4mm, which would make a suitable shoulder for the collar to hold.

Adapter should be ~2 1/2in long - 1in for the Jacobs taper, 1 and a bit inches for the end mill (single end only) and a bit in between. Almost finished tarting up the X-Y vise so that it's tighter and smoother. Once I've done that, I'll make a couple of leadscrew end plates with cartridge bearings and thrust washers. It's not going to be perfect, but it should do for what I'll be using it for.

 

[iron man]

Do not leave WD40 on your lathe for a long time. It will dry and leave a deposit that is murder to remove,I UNDERSTAND(haven't left WD on my machines yet). If you could get some kerosene,it would be better. I forget what WD40 has in it that is bad. I think #2 fuel for your house's furnace is about the same thing as kerosene,but I could be wrong. Distant memory on that.



Kind of late to reply on this but the left over residue from WD40 is just mineral oil unless there is some dirt or something else in the air it should not be hard to remove.

 

[4GSR]

WD-40 dries and leaves light brown rust on every bare metal surface. Especially in high humidity areas. Its ok to clean with it, but apply oil after using it!

It's banned from my shop!!!

 

[mattthemuppet2]

interesting My lathe is already light brown so it's kind of hard to tell if WD40 causes any rust. That might be different in summer though, as there's no humidity to speak of right now, just snow.

 

[george wilson]

O.K.,then. your threaded collar does NOT capture the chuck like my old Craftsman drill press does. Too bad. The feature of capturing the chuck is a useful one for resisting sideways forces like routing or milling.

Now that you HAVE gotten the chuck loose,it will probably come loose much easier in the future,so be mindful of that. All those spiral end mills do exert a downwards force on the spindle when cutting,too.

I don't think you are risking much of an injury trying to mill with the chuck or a collet. Just don't run the drill press at a real high speed. If the chuck does come loose,you want it to just drop off and not go spinning about a lot with a sharp cutter in it.

This milling on a drill press is not something I recommend any way. But,if you seem set on doing it,and have no other means of milling,be careful. You could get a nasty nick!!

P.S.,your heating to a straw or purple color is completely the WRONG way of hardening steel. You only SOFTENED it. It was just by luck that the chuck popped off. If there was a little oil left on the wedges,THAT is probably what helped pop the chuck loose by lubricating the wedges. First of all,only HIGH carbon steels will harden at all. Mild steel does not contain enough carbon to harden. Your steel is "mystery steel". No telling what alloy it is. There are long discussions of hardening steel elsewhere,some of which I wrote. But,to be brief,your steel needs at least .40 carbon in it. It must(to be simple) heated to an orange heat,quenched in water or possibly oil(water cools the steel faster,but you need to know if you are dealing with oil or water or air hardening steel). Get a book on heat treating steels.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

thanks for the advice George, I keep on learning

I won't be holding an end mill in the chuck, especially now that I've had the chuck off, I'll be making an endmill holder with a JT33 female taper to be captured by that threaded collar. It won't prevent me destroying the spindle bearings as I've been warned, but it should keep the endmill where it's supposed to be.

I've no doubt you're right about the "hardening", but I thought it was worth a shot as my previous attempt failed. Either way (or in spite of what I did), it worked, which was the only thing that mattered I'll look more into hardening when I have the need and funds to by the proper steel.

 

[iron man]

WD-40 dries and leaves light brown rust on every bare metal surface. Especially in high humidity areas. Its ok to clean with it, but apply oil after using it!

It's banned from my shop!!!

Thats really odd I have used that stuff for years and never seen anything like that before.. I guess it is something to watch for.. Ray

 

[george wilson]

I was the master toolmaker for Williamsburg museum and was there for 39 years. I have hardened hundreds of things and worked with several tool steels. You do need to buy a book on hardening the common tool steels,though. W1,and 01 are the most common types. 01 means oil hardening. W1 is water hardening. 01 is safer,warping and changing size LESS than W1. W1 is the most treacherous tool steel there is. Upside: W1 will get sharper than any other tool steel,BUT,it loses its edge quicker,too.

01 is the easiest steel to find for sale. W1 is getting harder to find as it isn't very sophisticated,and being treacherous,is used little these days,except by knife makers. Good for gun springs also,in the lower carbon content types,like 1070 and 1080. Blacksmiths like these lower carbon types as they are easier to forge weld without burning up.

If you want to make something,just get some 01. Heat it orange hot with a MAPP gas torch,and quench it in most any light oil. Do not use OLD motor oil,or you'll get a thick,black layer on your steel,that is HARD to remove. Vegetable oil,peanut oil are good. I just use automatic transmission fluid. Draw the part to straw color(polish it clean first to show the bare metal). Straw for a hard tool,or cutting edge. Purple for threading taps(to cut threads),blue for springs.

There's a lot more,but I don't feel like going on .

Exactly what is the diameter of your threaded part of the spindle,and how many threads per inch? Measure the thread diameter as close as you can.