# Bore mate evaluation



## sliverr2 (Dec 3, 2013)

Wish this info was available before i purchased one. So i want to take this opportunity to share my opinions on a bore mate i received. In concept the idea of being able to bore and face without stopping the spindle was very appealing .Me assuming that anyone making a device to do such a task would make it a quality piece.In fact it is a quality piece in form but in practice they missed the boat on a few key design flaws. The biggest being it is not a positive placement positioning system.The hand wheel feeds the tool out against spring pressure and relies on the spring to draw it back to center.Sounds ok until you think about it. Centrifugal force wants to throw the tool out further and there is no way to lock the tool into position.To not leave witness marks in your bore you would have to back the tool away before removing from the bore defeating its purpose.Looking at the way it mounts you would think it is a more rigid boring head but not the case the housing that clamps on the quill is not all that rigidly attached to the boring unit it self it is mostly for the handwheel even if it was more rigid because of this it still does not allow enough control over the cutting tool to take advantage of it, it still relies on the r8 as do all other boring heads.The other flaw is its heavy  you must have good tension on the spindle lock to avoid the quill dropping when attached. Thought this was a rare accessary for a knee mill. my thoughts are it is and its because it was not a success story.


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## flutedchamber (Dec 3, 2013)

What your Bore Mate attempts to do a Wohlhaupter boring head does flawlessly.  When I originally saw your post I wondered how this boring head would do.  Sorry it didn't work out.

Look for a Wohlhaupter boring head for your mill.  Most likely it would be a UPA3 head for it to be equipped or to be equipped with an R8 shank.  

I'd put the bore mate back on Ebay and sell it.

I bought my Wohlhaupter UPA3 complete and in almost new condition for under $400.


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