Question about tool holding?

[John Hasler]

John,
I use a Loctite brand anti seize that comes in a stick, kind of like a giant lipstick tube.

I have some "silver" (aluminum) paste antisieze. I'll try that.

I think another thing you could do before you resort to lapping compound would be to sandblast the shank of the endmill, which would rough it up a little for more bite.

I'm not about to try the lapping compound trick. I'd also be very reluctant to do anything that would reduce the diameter of the shank of a cutter.

 

[Ken_Shea]

Lots of suggestions, obviously each work well for the individual.
Here is yet another I use.
For cutter grip, collet and cutter, both clean and bone dry, you can use rubbing alcohol, brake clean, any cleaner that does not have a lubricant in it, there is also a specific torque, to loose, cutter can spin, to tight and the risk of collet damage increases.

Ken

 

[kd4gij]

I have a G0704 and all I use is R8 collets I have 1/4,3/8,1/2,5/8, and 3/4". The mill while does avery thing I ask, You realy can't push it hard enough to need endmill holders.

Good luck with the new mill. I am shure you will enjoy it as much as I have mine. I would get 4 collets for now and save your pennies for the power feed. Don't know how I ever got by with out it. That is unless CNC is in your future.

 

[blaser.306]

A second thought ... If you are trying to get set up for as least cost as possible... You really only need a few collets. You can order just about any size end mill under 3/8" with a 3/8" shank, Under 1/2 with 1/2" shank and under 3/4" with a 3/4 shank. I have sets of collets, but the 4 that get used %99 of the time are 1/4,3/8, 1/2 and 3/4.

Those sizes just happen to be the ones I picked up with my 4" milling vice today! Actualy my second vice, the first ( also of oriental manufacture ) felt like the lead screw was cut with an axe and sounded like there was gravel in the threads! Needless to say it went back to the supplier! I found another ( actual machine shop supplier ) here in town that had a much nicer specimen ( also chinese ) And $30.00 cheaper as a bonus! The biggest difference being ( A ) I could read the degree markings on the swivel base ( that I will leave off for now ), they didn't look like they were done with a cold chisel by a drunken monkey! ( B ) it has needle bearings on the thrust face and ( C ) the lead screw is as smooth as silk and makes no " noise " when it is opened or closed! Now the suspense is killing me! How long is this going to take for the mill to get here??? I am sure that customs knows I am waiting, so they will play this out to the fullest of their abbilities! Thanks again for the input.

 

[gudnithor]

The problem with collets are the endmill tend to drag them self out of the collet, end mill holder are more accurate...

 

[Ken_Shea]

My own use of them is meaningless but the conclusion in having read numerous first hand accounts of day to day every day collet users in high out put industrial machines is that if if one is having holding or precision problems that leads back to the collet (presuming on spec cutters) the likely culprit is improper tightening, collet or collet holder defects or poor quality. This leads me to believe the problem lies in how they are used and not in the design. For the manual mill I have a mostly full set of R8, in the CNC, holders mostly, (because that is what every body in the hobby machining seemed to use when I started) but do have a quality set of ER32 now and a quality collet holder.
When I say quality I am referring to not made in countries where price is first and quality third, that is not bad mouthing these countries, trust me, I've got my share of their tools just not cutters, drills or mill tool holders.

Ken

 

[FanMan]

All the professional toolmakers where I work use only R8 collets to hold endmills (except the CNC Hurco which uses a different system). I don't think I've ever seen an end mill holder in use there. Me, my used mill came with a collet set so that's all I ever use, too, never had one slip.

 

[JimDawson]

In about 50 years of machining, I think I have only had one end mill try to walk out of an R-8 collet, and that was because I didn't tighten the draw bar enough. This includes cutting an inch deep in steel with 0.750 roughing end mills. I do use end mill holders now for larger than 0.500 because I only have collets for up to 0.500 for my #30 spindle.