Looking to set up shop...

[Desolus]

What I can tell you is that a Sherline mill can drive a 3/8" HSS end mill through a 3/16" slotting cut in 303 stainless without breathing hard.

That is encouraging, and yes I had thought about solid carbide end mills, more likely I'm going to invest in some slightly larger diameter end mills that take inserts. I can do almost all of the milling work with just one diameter tool. the only other ops is hole drilling and countersinking. I wasn't aware just how small they made end mills that take inserts. Looking at some fancy composite body, 3 cutter holders right now, 16mm cutting diameter with a 10mm diameter threaded shaft. there's a far greater variety of this kind of stuff than I had imagined...

Personally I don't see that at all!

Spell check has been used heavily, I assure you. It has always been very difficult (read I'm impatient and get frustrated easily when trying to figure out how to spell a word) for me to get my thoughts onto the page, often requiring many backtracks and rewrites to get to what I feel is an acceptable representation of the chaos inside my head...

 

[brino]

Spell check has been used heavily, I assure you. It has always been very difficult (read I'm impatient and get frustrated easily when trying to figure out how to spell a word) for me to get my thoughts onto the page, often requiring many backtracks and rewrites to get to what I feel is an acceptable representation of the chaos inside my head...

well then, you should fit right in here!
-brino

 

[mikey]

That is encouraging, and yes I had thought about solid carbide end mills, more likely I'm going to invest in some slightly larger diameter end mills that take inserts. I can do almost all of the milling work with just one diameter tool. the only other ops is hole drilling and countersinking. I wasn't aware just how small they made end mills that take inserts. Looking at some fancy composite body, 3 cutter holders right now, 16mm cutting diameter with a 10mm diameter threaded shaft. there's a far greater variety of this kind of stuff than I had imagined...

I use solid carbide end mills all the time on my Sherline mill so they should work fine. I do not use inserted carbide end mills, mainly because I cannot get enough speed to use them properly and because the cutting loads are too high for the mill, in my opinion. On the other hand, I haven't considered the small cutters you're talking about so maybe it might be okay. I would see what kind of speeds they have to run at; the Sherline can get up to about 2800 real world rpms.

Maybe a Tormach PCNC 440 might be more suitable?

 

[Desolus]

From what I have seen, the lathe and mill can come with a 10,000 rpm spindle from sherline, and if that isn't enough there are aftermarket spindles that push 30,000 rpm @ almost 2HP... that seems like you're going to twist the lathe bed in half when your tool gets stuck... but you can do it <.< >.>

 

[mikey]

From what I have seen, the lathe and mill can come with a 10,000 rpm spindle from sherline, and if that isn't enough there are aftermarket spindles that push 30,000 rpm @ almost 2HP... that seems like you're going to twist the lathe bed in half when your tool gets stuck... but you can do it <.< >.>

True. However, you will find that most cutters require lower speeds. Most of the time, you will be using HSS, cobalt or solid carbide end mills so a normal machine will be more useful. You may not only use the machine to make watch cases, but its your call.

 

[Desolus]

well that's a bit to consider, obviously the only solution is to just get a half dozen machines! I just learned most of this stuff about how tools move into work and it's taking a few weeks to wrap my head all the way around it. there will likly be moe questions to come. and thank you for your help so far.

 

[rock_breaker]

Welcome to the site, you will find watchmakers here that I believe will share their skills and abilities with you.
Having no experience in watch making and definitely a novice machinist I have found the Workshop Practice Series book Gears and Gear Cutting a must read (several times for me) for gear making. My involvement here is making an indexer utilizing a 40:1 worm gear. You speak of making the interior parts of a watch so I am guessing you will cut the gears as part of the project. The precision and finesse in watch and clock making blow my mind, anything smaller than a 1/4" bolt in my shop is precision work.
Have a good day
Ray

 

[Terrywerm]

What kind of material removal can I expect to get with the sherline mill working on 316L stainless. ie. How fast of a feed with 0.1 inch depth of cut, cutting out a channel with a 1/4 inch cutter can the mill handle?

I see that you are planning to machine 316 stainless. I do not wish to deter you, but I do feel the need to point out that 316 can be rather challenging to machine. It work hardens very easily, especially when taking very thin cuts, so you will want to play with some of it and experiment some before you start in on your actual parts. You may wish to instead consider using 303 in its place. Much easier to machine but with most of the same qualities as 316.

 

[Metal]

as for the "dont wanna reclamp" issue

I'd make some sort of modular soft jaws specifically for the job that you can pop out and in on indicator pins, you should be able to get at least 4 out of 5 sides done on a 3 axis without screwing around with reclamping.

Once those ops are done taking it out and putting it into another fixture that again indicates onto the same pins (or its own) is pretty easy

 

[Desolus]

To me 303 is corrosion resistant, I have abused the stuf enough to make it corrode. 316 is corrosion proof, I have not abused it enough to make it corrode.

303 is still responsive to magnetic feilds.
316 is not.

I designed the seals in this watch case to handle 50 atm, it is deffinately going to be used in salt water. I also want the magnetic resistance because my hair spring is ferric, and I do not want it to become magnetized too easily.

This is also not my first rodeo with 316, or making a watch case with it. This will be my first time working with it in a small machine and working it without aid however.