Who's used an annular cutter on their mill?

sanddan

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I've seen these cutters being used on the Bridgeport style mill with R8 collets but I'm not sure if I am looking at the correct ones. Most common is the 12,000 series Hougen cutters made for a mag drill.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252791795581?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

The shank is 3/4" but looks like it might be too short. Has anyone used this model or do you need the 53,000 series industrial version with the longer shank?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hougen-Rota...bc69b9d&pid=100033&rk=2&rkt=8&sd=252791795581
 
Hi Dan,
Both Paco (Firestopper), and I use the cutters in your first link directly (and the ones below) in our mills and with an adapter in our laths. I use a 3/4" R-8 collet in the mill, although there are also dedicated folders with an R-8 shank. On the lathe we have a MT3 adapter that holds the cutters. The annular cutters work very well with some lubricant, and gentle even pressure, clearing the chips about every 1/8" of depth. Usually around 250-300 RPM, but depends on the size of the annular cutter. I used them to cut the 5/8" holes in 1/2" steel plate for my lathe stand, much easier and quicker than regular drills.
Mark

These are reasonably priced, but the first one is only 1" DOC.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-ROTO-KUT-MAXX-ANNULAR-CUTTER-KIT-KIT-NO-82-2930-/332143459565
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANNULAR-CUTTERS-SET-2-DEPTH-HIGH-SPEED-STEEL-new-8PCS-SET/310348228107
 
Annular cutters are a wonderful addition to your tooling arsenal. One of the great things about them is they don't care if you are cutting a full circle or not. They also drop the horsepower requirement for large holes. My Bridgeport is only a 2hp and it isn't any problem to drill a 2" hole in 4140. Another benefit is holes are more accurately sized and positioned with an annular cutter. In the mill I just hold them in a 3/4" collet most of the time but they have r8 holders as well as almost any other machine taper. I have holders for r8, mt3, mt4 and nmbt 40. The advantage of the holder is the spring loaded ejection pin that helps get the slug out and align the hole if you don't need to be that accurate. I'm partial to the 2" depth of cut, they cost a little more than the 1" but the extra depth is useful.

Hello, my name is Brian and I'm a toolaholic!
 
Thanks you guys, that's the info I needed.

Mark, are you using Hougen brand or off shore? I'm leaning toward sticking with a name brand, pay a little extra up front for the quality.
 
I bought a Hougen Copperhead on Ebay for $7.25 shipped.
 
Have used annular cutter before I acquired a mag drill. Like mentioned, they cut great and produce a great holes or 1/2 holes. I use them more on the lathe than the mill. Only draw back on the lathe is depth.
Example of saving time on lathe work (1-13/16") and the coupon/slug can still be used for another smaller project.
20150626_123558.jpg 20150626_124820.jpg 20150626_161412.jpg
I have purchase Jancy and Hougen from different sellers on eBay (new) on the cheap.
 
There almost a joy to use in a magnet drill. I have a magnet drill and use it often I use to use center drill and step up to the final size drilling. But I started buying these instead , they cut steel like butter , produce clean holes and last . I've used them on my drill press and lathe have mill to use them in now just not set up yet.
 
Paco,

That's a big one there, did you make the holder or buy?

I was thinking I would only use it on the mill but I can see it would be a time saver as I don't have any drill bits above 1".
 
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