Intro to my little hobby metal shop and request for tooling recommendations

[CounterSunkenTreasure]

For the e-stop, you can use those switches if you use them with a relay, sometimes called a "contactor". You have the e-stop switch run the coil, the contacts go to the main switch. You can also use them with the motor controller like a VFD if your machine has one.

Thanks. I'm familiar with those. I was just surprised that they were so low. while high current through a switch isn't ideal, that cutoff for such a small unit would be most direct, less parts to fail, and faster imo. seems like i fall under its limits so ill probably give it a whirl at some point.

Chips flying, yeah, happens. You can make various shields to try to keep them in place, or just accept it. I find the mill is far more messy, but the lathe can sure fling stuff once in a while.

Figured as much. Not overly concerned. Just poking to see if anyone had clever solutions to share.

The feed rates, and threading, are set with change gears. You can likely find a gear set with a slower feed to get better finish. That chart shows 4.7 thous/rev as the slowest rate with those gears. It's not uncommon for me to run 1 thou/rev for a finish pass. There is likely a chart somewhere in the documentation that shows the recommended setups. And there have been a few people that have made spreadsheets and such to calculate them. Getting everything to fit is another issue as well.

that chart i posted is all that exists in the documentation. Its not surprising. The Grizzly unit is just the rebranded China unit with slightly better customer service and maybe a bit better manual. I'm just surprised they didnt put in the chart all the speeds or ratios. they only give values for those lever positions and change gears. glad to hear i'm not taking crazy pills and i can make them slower than documented with the change gears.

For finish, carbide on small machines can be iffy that way. You can do better if you use the right feeds and speeds, but HSS will likely still outdo it. If you want to stick to inserts, try some polished inserts usually made for aluminum. They tend to be sharper and for the lighter loads we use at home, they hold up well in steel as well. And get some known material that is known to finish well. Starting with unknown material just complicates things. Even just 6061 aluminum is a good place to start. 1018 steel is not. I've had good luck with 12L14 and 303 stainless as well.

yeah i was winging it. I'll try to looks some things up for correct feeds/speeds. was just excited to make some chips. I was just leveraging what came with the lathe. I'm working on getting my hands on some HSS blanks. i just like the no fuss buy and replace sharp insert nature of indexable carbides. Do they make HSS inserts?

As far as materials... I gathered up some scraps I've run across over the years and was giving it a whirl. I wager a lot of my work will be on scraps so i have to figure out eventually how to adjust on the fly. I have to find a place to get some stock. https://www.onlinemetals.com/ seems reasonable. I used to live near Fazzio's in South Jersey before their big reno. they were great because at the time you could walk to the stock warehouse and pickup cutoffs for fractions of the price. They also sold bolts by weight and had this section that was just all old odd random equipment and parts i guess people turn in for scrap that you could rummage through. Not sure what its like now. They were all more than adequate for my needs as a student at the time. I have to see if there is a place by me now that can do that. One of these places is nearby https://www.metalsupermarkets.com/ but their online pricing is significantly higher so ill have to give them a call i guess and to see what's up.

I personally love the CCGX or CCGT inserts. Specifically the CCGX32.50 is my weapon of choice for a lot of things.
Shars sells the asian brand ZCC for a lot of their inserts. They seem pretty high quality, much much better than Banggood or AliExpress inserts, but they cost proportionately more.

These inserts are pressed and then ground to a sharp edge (compared to pressed only for most steel cutting inserts). This dramatically reduces cutting forces at the expense of a weaker edge. I've found these to have near infinite life in aluminum and a pretty good life in steel and stainless. In fact these would be the only thing I'd use in stainless.

The last digit in the designation (CCGX32.50) indicates the corner radius. 0 = sharp, 1 = medium, 2 = large. The larger the radius, the faster you can feed for a desired surface finish. This however increases cutting forces and messes with dimensional accuracy. I prefer the sharp (0) corner since cutting forces are minimized and I can get within 2-3 tenths of my desired diameter without too much hassle. I'm also not in a rush and don't mind a longer machining time to get a nice finish.

ooooo thanks for the info. Yeah i was looking for a good chart about all the different shapes, tips, angles etc of cutters and what they were optimal for. I'm gonna work on getting some HSS but I've got all this now which can't be useless so i'd like to leverage it. I will say the next size down from 1/2 probably would have been optimal for these holders but they fit. I almost got an AXA but it would have put these cutters over the center line of the lathe from my math and I was told the added rigidity would exceed the rest of what my mill could leverage anyways. soooo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The other benefit is the minimum depth of cut. With all tools, the sharpness of the edge indicates the minimum depth of cut at which the tool will no longer cut material and instead rub over the surface. With many steel focused inserts, this could be as large as 0.015" giving you very little flexibility to dial in a finishing pass (hence some people's preference for HSS). With these inserts, I've done depth of cuts in the 0.0005" range and still had it form a real chip. Once you get dust or crumbles, then you are no longer cutting.

Interesting. I'll have to find a chart that shows what all my chips should be looking like.

 

[Dabbler]

Just a quick note on end mills. they are consumable, and one day you will be able to resharpen them, but until then, keep all you have.

You can do good work on a small mill by plunge milling on the larger cutters. End mills larger than 1/2 inch will tax your mill, however, so the bigger ones might go quite safely...

It looks like you got a fantastic setup in two easy steps! Well done!

 

[CounterSunkenTreasure]

Just a quick note on end mills. they are consumable, and one day you will be able to resharpen them, but until then, keep all you have.

Indeed. This place looks very reasonable for sharpening.

http://endmill-sharpening.com/Gruschow_Grinding_Price_List_04.01.2017.pdf

After looking up the retail for some of these bits it seems it would definitely be worth it. But I probably dont need 15 duplicates and some of the bigger ones might be lost on me needs. I'm certainly not a person to get rid of things but I'm going to see if I can sell off or barter a bit of the excess for some other things I could use.

You can do good work on a small mill by plunge milling on the larger cutters. End mills larger than 1/2 inch will tax your mill, however, so the bigger ones might go quite safely...

Thanks for the tip. Yeah some of those endmills are hefty boys.

It looks like you got a fantastic setup in two easy steps! Well done!

Haha thanks! I think a cnc might be somewhere in my future, but I think this is a magnificent starting point.

Appreciate all the input! I dont really have anyone in my local circles that's into this stuff so the forum is fantastic.

 

[Dabbler]

I dont really have anyone in my local circles that's into this stuff so the forum is fantastic.

I felt the same for years. Nowadays in our city we have a forum for hobby metalworkers with 100+ members, and before Covid19, we used to get together. I also found another group, completely different, that we pool some specialized tools together.

In your area there are probably hundreds of people doing metalwork. Check Kijiji and Craiglist ads for "wanted lathe' and "Wanted milling machine", and also for sale listings - sometimes a guy is selling a machine they've upgraded from. Don't be afraid to contact them with th question "are you also a metalworker?" I've met some great contacts that way.

 

[macardoso]

Appreciate all the input! I dont really have anyone in my local circles that's into this stuff so the forum is fantastic.

I think a lot of us feel this way! We are glad to have you here.

 

[CounterSunkenTreasure]

Glad to be here. I dabble in tons of hobbies in all kinds of fields. I guess I'm one of the few not going stir crazy during the pandemic because of it. Being locked down means project time!

 

[yendor]

As with you I'm relatively new to this hobby stuff.
I have an older Atlas QCGB 42 and an RF-30 Mill.
I'm learning as I go and have collected some End Mills and Lathe tooling. Some very similar to yours.
And while I'm still employed but locked down. I would be part of the crowd that was on over 100 flights a year and now haven't seen an airplane since Feb. ( and Really don't miss it).
I get to play in my shop on weekends not so much nights.
This site has taught me a lot, and I appreciate all the people here who give of their knowledge and experience freely.
I'm with you on looking for places to pick up cheaper materials to work with.
I get the check with local shops for scraps and junk yards but with all the restrictions on things today, I'm hesitant to go wandering into those places uninvited.
So... making do with what I can.
Glad to hear I'm not alone.

 

[Aaron_W]

Glad to be here. I dabble in tons of hobbies in all kinds of fields. I guess I'm one of the few not going stir crazy during the pandemic because of it. Being locked down means project time!

Hobbies are great, I feel bad for people without a hobby to enjoy. I'm recently retired and have had people I worked with ask "don't you get bored sitting around the house"?

No! I have a 110 year old house, a 6 year old son and lots of hobbies, I don't have time to get bored.

 

[ttabbal]

Turning

There's some HSS insert tools. They aren't very common, but it's another option. LMS used to stock those as well, not sure if they still do.

For stock, Metal Supermarkets near me doesn't list remnants. You have to go check them out in person and just see what they have. They generally have a decent selection and it's reasonably priced. There are some ebay sellers that are reasonably competitive as well, even considering shipping. Hobby Metal Kits at https://hobbymetalkits.com/shop is pretty good for small lengths as well.

 

[CounterSunkenTreasure]

Nowadays in our city we have a forum for hobby metalworkers with 100+ members, and before Covid19, we used to get together. I also found another group, completely different, that we pool some specialized tools together.

That's pretty neat! I feel like there are tons of niche tools that aren't worth owning so sharing is awesome.

100 flights a year and now haven't seen an airplane since Feb. ( and Really don't miss it).

Ouch. Well i hope employment is still there but i wouldn't miss the price paid for diamond status either.

As with you I'm relatively new to this hobby stuff.
I have an older Atlas QCGB 42 and an RF-30 Mill.

Nice scores!

I'm with you on looking for places to pick up cheaper materials to work with.
I get the check with local shops for scraps and junk yards but with all the restrictions on things today, I'm hesitant to go wandering into those places uninvited.
So... making do with what I can.
Glad to hear I'm not alone.

We're not too far apart. I'll let you know what i find. I also sent you the PM about Fazzio's in Glassboro. Haven't been there in years but they were friendly enough for non professionals back in 07 when i went there.

No! I have a 110 year old house, a 6 year old son and lots of hobbies, I don't have time to get bored.

haha fact, between the house, dog, and kid and a DIY mentality the only thing i'm ever short on is time or motivation.

There's some HSS insert tools. They aren't very common, but it's another option.

yikes those are pricey... I'l probably just buy a batch of blanks.

For stock, Metal Supermarkets near me doesn't list remnants. You have to go check them out in person and just see what they have.

Good tip. I'll see whats up. Thanks for the links.

Found some aluminum and the results were much more pleasant.


Although i was getting lotsa unbroken strands that wanted to tangle in the lead screw etc. When i cranked up the depth of cut i was getting better chipping. I'll have to play with it more but how do you mitigate them without stopping? I had grabbed some of the ones that made it far enough from the moving bits and yanked them with some needle nose pliers but it wasn't quite optimal. One found its way under the headstock into the gear/pulleybox... haha.




these lead screw telescoping spring covers /bellows seem cool. I'll search around and report back what i find.