Okay what 45 degree face mill is best for the Charter Oak 12z?

[coolidge]

I did a quick search on Enco and MSC for NT30 tooling and its very limited. I contemplated some kind of NT30 tool changer for about 45 seconds then dismissed it as crazy talk. If I get that serious I'll go Haas and CAT40.

 

[Falcon67]

Fwiw - there are more than a couple of people out there swinging a 8" face mill on R8 BPs and clones for surfacing cylinder heads. Not taking heavy cuts for sure but then .006 to .008 is about average to reduce a quench chamber by 1 cc so heavy cuts are not really required.

 

[coolidge]

I don't want to say much about the 2" until I get it & test it out, won't be here for another 2 weeks. It's not a 45° face mill anyway.

I'm guessing...

 

[darkzero]

the winner in the face mill war is www.latheinserts.com.

Great choice. Nothing Curtis sells is junk so you should be happy with your purchase.

I'm guessing...

View attachment 86589

Nope but I have been wanting one of the Korloy Pro-X cutters but in the 1" size. These are what latheinserts.com calls their Ripper endmills. I never purchased one cause I figure as a home shop hobbyist it really may not benefit me.

Ok, ok. The 2" cutter I ordered is a Dorian Recycle cutter. It uses the "useless" 100° corners of CCMT inserts. I have a bunch of used CCGT inserts that I have not thrown away & figured I try one of these rather than using one of those turning holders that use the 100°. I use CCGT inserts quite often & figured I might as well get something to make use of them after the 80° sides are used up.

I'm not expecting much as CCMTs were not designed for milling. If it's good for at least just roughing I'll be happy. If it gives me a decent finish for squaring up work I'll be even happier.

 

[coolidge]

I have some CCGT inserts for my lathe, Korloy but man they are tiny inserts. I can't seem to press the Check Out button on the latheinsert package...

 

[chuckorlando]

I feel your pain. I can sit on a fence for months sometimes ahahaha

I ordered a fly cutter instead of a face mill. I should have got the face mill. It's a hobby but I enjoy convenience and inserts are worth every penny in that area IMO.

I have some CCGT inserts for my lathe, Korloy but man they are tiny inserts. I can't seem to press the Check Out button on the latheinsert package...

 

[catoctin]

It's funny you brought this story up. Almost all PM935's I have heard of are shipped with the alignment pin set too deep. I adjusted and tested mine using all of my collets and drill chuck (Glacern). I then tried my Glacern face mill and it would not go in. The other tools seemed to go in fairly easily so I set the face mill aside. A few days later I pulled the face mill out and looked at the top of the index slot. It appears it may have been bumped or dropped in the factory and point of impacted at the top of the index slot. You really needed to look close to see it. A few swipes on one edge with a jewelers file and it inserted properly. I really did not want to pulled the index pin out further for fear of shearing the nose off of it.

-Joe

I came across a post by a 30 year experienced machinist last night who said the issue is snapping off the R8 alignment pin in the spindle by using too large a face mill. He seemed to be speaking from experience and went so far as to recommend removing the pin, he said its not a key intended for that kind of torque and if you snap it off its apt to damage your spindle and you may have a hell of a time removing the tool let alone fixing the spindle.

 

[wrmiller]

Fwiw - there are more than a couple of people out there swinging a 8" face mill on R8 BPs and clones for surfacing cylinder heads. Not taking heavy cuts for sure but then .006 to .008 is about average to reduce a quench chamber by 1 cc so heavy cuts are not really required.

Yea, I was thinking about this. As I would be using a face mill primarily for truing/squaring material, these would be fairly light (< 10 thou) cuts and I don't see why a 3" wouldn't work just fine for that. If in the case of where all I have is .5" material and need it to be .3" I'll use roughers to get the material close, then true/finish cut with the face mill.

If I wanted a face mill primarily to remove stock, I'd probably stick with a 2". Different strokes, different folks.

 

[coolidge]

Yea, I was thinking about this. As I would be using a face mill primarily for truing/squaring material, these would be fairly light (< 10 thou) cuts and I don't see why a 3" wouldn't work just fine for that. If in the case of where all I have is .5" material and need it to be .3" I'll use roughers to get the material close, then true/finish cut with the face mill.

If I wanted a face mill primarily to remove stock, I'd probably stick with a 2". Different strokes, different folks.

Then there is spindle speed vs weight as I anticipate higher speeds milling aluminum. Glacern's 3" face mill weighs 2.75 pounds, just saying. I figure I can always go bigger but if I find the FM too large then I'm stuck with the tool.

 

[Falcon67]

Thanks for the link to latheinserts.com - now you have me browsing tools. Good prices, was looking for a 3/4 boring bar for the new lathe.