2017 - The Original "What Did You Buy Today?" Mega Thread

[woodchucker]

Decided to pull the trigger on an old school vise. Craigslist.. advertised as a 6" bridgeport, measures 5".. I think 6 would have been too big for my little 8520.
Just oiled it and ran a stone over the jaws, and moveable jaw top so I can write on it.. (short term memory I need to keep track of measurements).

 

[EmilioG]

Received my brand new Etalon dial calipers today. This gage is outstanding! It repeats and is dead on every time. I checked it with my Starrett Webber gage blocks.
It came with the depth gage foot also, in an Etalon case in sealed plastic. Great caliper. I have an 8" Mitutoyo digimatic which is excellent and I can switch to metric and has data output, but the Etalon is smoother and has better repeat accuracy, IMHO. My first dial caliper. I needed a backup just in case.

I also picked up 3 Kennedy tool chests for $250, one vintage and two new. I needed them. My others were full to the brim.

 

[hman]

Mighty nice price on the Kennedys! Congrats.

 

[Rustrp]

My others were full to the brim.

Oh, so this is why you were hedging on the annular cutters, you didn't have a drawer for them.

 

[EmilioG]

I still would like to buy a few annular cutters but I would also buy the arbor for them. Much more rigid and solid holder with two shcs and an ejector pin/spring/guide.
YouTube has videos on how they cut and it looks amazing.

 

[Dan_S]

It's not exactly happening today, but my wife and I are in the process of buying a house, so all shop purchases have been put on hold.

 

[Rustrp]

I still would like to buy a few annular cutters but I would also buy the arbor for them. Much more rigid and solid holder with two shcs and an ejector pin/spring/guide.
YouTube has videos on how they cut and it looks amazing.

I really like how they cut and I think you already know my opinion on the arbor. If you think you need it that's good but the R8 collett is solid enough for the smaller sizes. I think if you push into the sizes larger than 1 1/2" you might get a bite that could cause the shank to twist in the collet but their tooth geometry/design takes this out of the equation. You don't get the same digging or grabbing that you might get with a drill bit which is multiplied using a large drill bit. If you see a good deal on one buy it and use it in a collett, you won't be disappointed. Point noted; They need good cutting oil/fluid. In one job I did, I cut over 100 9/16" holes in 1/2" HR bar before changing out the cutter to be resharpened.

 

[EmilioG]

The shank, even with two flats on the Hougen 12,000 series cutters is so short. It looks like an accident waiting to happen if I use an R8 smooth round collet.
I'd feel better with the two SHCS holding the two flats rigid in the proper arbor. Just my feeling on this. Besides, I'd be able to use any annular cutter with a Hougen arbor.
Side forces will send an annular cutter flying off an R8 or ruin the work. I won't gamble.

 

[Rustrp]

The shank, even with two flats on the Hougen 12,000 series cutters is so short.

While I agree, my question is what is your concern with using the cutter in a R8 x 3/4" collet? I'm sure you've crashed an end mill, maybe two, that were held in a collet. The flats in the shank of the annular cutter are primarily there because they are used in mag-drills that don't use collets. No matter what device you hold the cutter with, the shank length will be the same so there is no strength gained or lost.

To make a deep pan or box I prefer to make it in one piece if material allows. If it's too deep for the brake I have to clamp additional punches to get the depth I want if it's possible. In the sheetmetal industry we call this stacking tooling, but I don't do this if it isn't necessary. The farther away we get from the clamping device, or in this case a milling machine spindle, the farther away from accuracy we move. I'm just offering another angle to view this setup and I have been using annular cutters up to 2 1/2" dia. for 25+ years and I have only crashed 5-6 in the smaller diameters.

 

[darkzero]

I think an annular cutter should be ok in a collet but I haven't tried yet myself. You're not side loading the cutter like an endmill (if used properly). You should just be feeding straight down. If anything you may get slippage with large diameter cutters but you have to run these slow anyway & you can feel if you are feeding to fast.

I got my 1-3/8" x 2" cutter yesterday. My 2" x 3" cutter should be here tomorrow. I'm anxious to try them but unfortunately both my lathe & mill will be occupied for another week.

Also, the MT3 holder I got, the Hougen pilot I have doesn't not fit it. Hole is too small. I need to take it apart anyway to see how long of a pilot works with it.