M Head Questions

[Pete_Moose]

Hey y’all, I’m sure this has been discussed but I have a few questions related to the M Head.

I’m a member of a MakerSpace and totally new to milling/metalworking. I’ve been trying to get the mill back up to good working order, not there yet, but I was going through our tooling and noticed that while we have a few B&S collets, none of the end mills seem to fit in them properly. All the end mills are straight shanked from what I can tell and tend to bottom out before the mid point of the collet or right at it. I feel like that is not how it’s supposed to sit?

If not, would the best solution be go just put the endmills in without a collet? A number of them have the key for that. Would looking for an end mill holder or two in common sizes be better? Or even finding a few b&s tapered endmills?

 

[markba633csi]

Are you sure your M head has a Brown and Sharpe tapered spindle? I believe they came in 3 different tapers- Morse #2, B&S 7, and one more I forget
I don't think they came in R-8
Also if your drawbar is threading too far into the collet it will prevent the endmill from inserting fully
The endmill shank should have at least about 3/4" engagement in the collet. More is OK. Are you having any issues like runout or pull-out?

When you say key do you mean flat? Yes you could get endmill holders but I think they are pricey and cumbersome to use. Collets should give great results if they are correct for the machine and the spindle taper is in good shape with a proper drawbar fitted.

 

[Pete_Moose]

Are you sure your M head has a Brown and Sharpe tapered spindle? I believe they came in 3 different tapers- Morse #2, B&S 7,

Yeah, its definitely a B&S 7, we had a Morse #2 collet that it would not take but it takes the B&S no problem. They are barely getting 50% engagement, maybe one or two get close to 3/4.

I guess I mean flat? On those EMs the flat does not make it into the collet and if it does the end mill falls through.

 

[markba633csi]

But it's not really causing a problem? I wouldn't be too concerned. Pull out a collet and see how far the EM goes in. It may be that B&S 7s are shallow
(I haven't used them) compared to Morse

 

[itsme_Bernie]

But it's not really causing a problem? I wouldn't be too concerned. Pull out a collet and see how far the EM goes in. It may be that B&S 7s are shallow
(I haven't used them) compared to Morse

Mark,
I think you made a great point above as well, to check how far the drawbar is coming into the space of the collet.

 

[Choiliefan]

Ideally, you'll want end mill holders rather than collets.
Here's an example of what's being offered:

TTC Brown & Sharpe Precision End Mill Adapters

ApplicationsFor use in machinery that requires brown & sharpe drawbar end shanks.

www.travers.com