Horizontal arbor question

J

John TV

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I have a VanNorman #12 milling machine which uses a 1" horizontal arbor. I have some cutters but keep seeing more cutters listed at 1.25" arbor. Has anyone used an "adapter" to use the 1.25 cutters on a 1 inch arbor? I think I could make one on the lathe fairly precisely for the thinner cutters but would be much harder for a 3" slab cutter as an example. I would need a very long keyway on the inside and outside of such an adapter. Any thoughts?


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I made an adaptor for gear cutters, just a shouldered bushing with a key slot and a step key to match; for a slab cutter, make two. Best thing, find and purchase 7/8 and 1 1/4 arbors.
 
Thanks for the info, two would work as long as it was robust enough to take the torque. Do you think a 1/2 inch inside depth with key would be enough strength? Im really new to this but I don't think anyone made a larger arbor for the number 12. It has a fairly rare 5v collet head.


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Yes, 1/2" should be enough, the key could extend all the way through the length of the adaptors and cutter.
 
Thanks for the advice. Think I may have to try this.


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Yes, you can sleeve the horizontal arbor. I have imperial arbors and one can get mm bore metric cutters from Aliexpress at very reasonable prices. 22mm seems a common bore size for the involute cutters. I made a 0.750" to 0.866" adapter sleeve. I made a little dowel pin that engaged both key ways - it worked great.

Your sleeve is only 0.125" thick (1" arbor, 1.25" bore cutter). Consider putting several little through pins all in a row.

If you are thinking of quite a bit of use - consider making some arbors. It would be pretty standard between center turning. The 5V appears pretty small, it almost looks like you could just cut down a #40 arbor?
 
I think I have heard that even an R8 can be cut down to a 5v. That said my machining skills are a bit low on the learning curve but hope in the not too distant future I will have the ability to give a replacement arbor a try. In the mean time your pin suggestion is a good alternative especially on the thinner cutter.


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As others have mentioned making a bushing/spacer is a valid option. I have a 1940's era US Machine Tools horizonal mill with a 1" arbor. When looking for cutters I found far more with a 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" bore. In addition those with the larger bore were less expensive. Since they fit larger machines they were more plentiful and there was less demand by hobbyists.

I made bushings about 2" long with an internal keyway to fit the 1" arbor and another external key way at 180* to fit the cutters. I also made collars to fit the bushing/spacer so the cutter could be positioned anywhere along the bushing.

I probably have around a couple hundred different size and profile cutters ranging from .016" to 2.000". They are a mixture of 1", 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" bores. I also made around a hundred or so spacers to be able to position the cutter anywhere on the arbor.

I do need a few more cutters to complete a job. One of the surplus machine dealers in our area has hundreds if not thousands. Unfortunately he only as the sizes I need in 1 3/4" and 2" bores. It looks like I'll be making some more bushings in the near future.
 
Great info and good to hear I have options. Would you be willing to share the machine dealers name? I'm I Mn and sometimes get over by your area.


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The name of the dealer is HR Liquidations. It's on highway 22 across from the high school in Waupaca WI. Here's the link to their website:
https://rhliquidators.net/

Ask for the owner Ryan. I've bought all kinds of equipment and tools from him in the past. His prices have always been reasonable.
 
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