Info on mandral and slitting saws for screw slots

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Mutt

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Hey y'all, I'd like to get some input on what is a good general purpose mandrel for a slitting saw for my Bridgeport. I want to be able to slot various screw heads and other parts. I plan to use a 5C Spin Indexer most of the time for holding the parts

Are the cheap indexers on eBay even worth buying? What tightens the collets up on these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPI-5C-Coll...571177?hash=item3f75fec7a9:g:kPwAAOSwB-1YqkDf
 
Hi Mutt,
yes, the inexpensive spindexers are worth getting! they are cheap and useful
the surfaces can be precision scraped and trued up if you had the need or inclination.
the runout is mostly acceptable unless you are doing high precision work.

there are tons of commercially available mandrels, but what is the fun in that?
if you have access to a lathe , i'd consider a really interesting copy of a commercial made arbor.... (I did, it was not fancy but it is heavy duty!)
O1 tool steel is relatively cheap.
the mandrel can be made from scrap, if the demands of the work permit its use :)
 
what gets me is, why didn't the people that made these make them with slots so you could mount them to a milling table ?????? I'll have to machine a base plate and mount it to the indexer as a first project. Yeah, I got a decent lathe, do ya got a blueprint for one of these mandrels? I have O-1 in stock also.
 
i agree some slots would be nice!
see, already another project has been bred !
no sir, i don't have a blue print
i flew by the seat of my pants,
i made the arbor in steps 1",7/8",3/4" and a short end cap and retainer bolt
but a single step to the cutter bore size and a flatwasher can work as a retainer too

if the mandrel is for relatively low speed operation, put the billet between centers and turn away!
you can do it!!!
 
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Ok, what about a picture of the one you made? Standard right hand thread on the bolt?
 
There is not a lot of room on the base of mine for bolts in slots.
The milling table clamps have always worked well and the indexer does not need to line up with table t-slots.
 
Mutt said:
Hey y'all, I'd like to get some input on what is a good general purpose mandrel for a slitting saw for my Bridgeport. I want to be able to slot various screw heads and other parts. I plan to use a 5C Spin Indexer most of the time for holding the parts

Are the cheap indexers on eBay even worth buying? What tightens the collets up on these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPI-5C-Coll...571177?hash=item3f75fec7a9:g:kPwAAOSwB-1YqkDf
Click to expand...
I would not buy that spin indexer. The price of new is not that much, that's missing a handle, and the indexing pin.
So for the price and shipping you can do a new one with all the parts.
 
that was the first one I saw on eBay, so I used it as an example.

My plan was to make a base that bolts onto the bottom of the indexer and has slots for the two outside slots on my Bridgeport. I was digging around thru the tooling while ago and not only did I find a 1/16 x 3" slitting saw, it had the arbor still in it !!!!
 
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