Mill Work Holding With Lathe Tool Holder

[gjmontll]

I was having a very hard time trying to mount a 3/8" diameter, 4" steel rod in my mini-mill for slitting a keyway. I unsuccessfully tried several configurations with a small mill vise; none were adequately stable and secure, despite multiple clamps.
Then as I was cleaning up for the day, putting tools away, the solution... use one of my lathe AXA tool holders, my work was very similar in size and shape to a boring bar, just clamp in the AXA holder and clamp the holder to the mill table.
Because the work was round, I used one of the AXA toolholders with a vee-groove.

This worked very well for slitting a 1/32" wide, 1/32" deep slot.
A note of caution: my shallow cuts with a narrow saw would put rather low loads on the 2 clamping setscrews. And it would be only a longitudinal load, no twisting force. An off-center milling operation might test those setscrews more severely.
BTW, I post this the other day in my ongoing thread "Greg's French 75 mm Field Artillery Model." I'm reposting it here for wider visibility to the group since it is a general purpose concept. I hope others find it useful.
Greg

 

[francist]

That's a neat idea, I'm liking that for other things as well. I'm often faced with having to grind a flat on a shaft or something, and end up making a throw-away holder from a block of wood with a hole through it. Next time I'll reach for a blank tool holder instead and give a try. Good idea, but for light applications only as you say.

-frank

 

[kd4gij]

That is thinking out side the box.