Shell Mills and Face Mills for R8

[mikey]

The tool holder is angled such that the tip of the insert makes flat contact on the cutting edge so unless yours happens to be at the same angle, I don't think it will work.

 

[mikey]

Do you know if the Tormach fly cutter toolholder would work in a non-Tormach fly cutter body?

Dave, after thinking about it, I responded without thinking things through. It may be possible to modify your current flycutter to accept the Superfly tool holder IF the body of your flycutter is not hardened. You may be able to modify the width and angle of the tool holder slot to accept the Superfly tool holder so that the insert works at the correct angle. If you wish to do this, I can measure the angle of the Superfly fly cutter body for you so you can give it a shot. Let me know.

 

[DavidR8]

Dave, after thinking about it, I responded without thinking things through. It may be possible to modify your current flycutter to accept the Superfly tool holder IF the body of your flycutter is not hardened. You may be able to modify the width and angle of the tool holder slot to accept the Superfly tool holder so that the insert works at the correct angle. If you wish to do this, I can measure the angle of the Superfly fly cutter body for you so you can give it a shot. Let me know.

That'd be really great if you would measure the angle. Buying the Superfly is about $230 CDN vs just the tool holder for about $110 CDN

 

[mikey]

Okay, I measured the angle with a Starrett vernier protractor and got a 20 degree angle from the horizontal plane or 70 degrees from the vertical plane, depending on how you prefer to orient the angle. See pic from our very own @BGHansen:



The tool holder itself is 0.3890" square and the slot is 0.4065" wide.

Hope this helps, Dave.

 

[DavidR8]

Okay, I measured the angle with a Starrett vernier protractor and got a 20 degree angle from the horizontal plane or 70 degrees from the vertical plane, depending on how you prefer to orient the angle. See pic from our very own @BGHansen:

View attachment 323047

The tool holder itself is 0.3890" square and the slot is 0.4065" wide.

Hope this helps, Dave.

That's a tremendous help, thanks very much, As always I really appreciate it!
@BGHansen thanks for your post too!
D

 

[Aaron_W]

Okay, I measured the angle with a Starrett vernier protractor and got a 20 degree angle from the horizontal plane or 70 degrees from the vertical plane, depending on how you prefer to orient the angle. See pic from our very own @BGHansen:

View attachment 323047

The tool holder itself is 0.3890" square and the slot is 0.4065" wide.

Hope this helps, Dave.

You've also mentioned you like the Sherline insert fly cutter for your RF-31. How does the Superfly compare / when do you use one vs the other?

Sherline now offers the insert flycutter with a straight shank making it easier to adapt to other small mills. About 1/2 the cost of the Superfly.



Sherline single flute insert fly cutter with straight shank

 

[mikey]

I actually use the Sherline flycutter a lot, especially if I need to cut to a shoulder or make a ledge. It is really a single flute face mill that cuts a 1-1/8" swath so it's small but it works really well. It allows you to cut at high speeds so it finishes well, too.

The only time I prefer the Superfly is when I need to flatten a larger surface area. Otherwise, I use the Sherline tool. Now that they offer one with a straight shank, I'll buy one and use it in an ER collet for better accuracy.

EDIT: Just bought the straight shank version. Yeah, it's worth the cost.

 

[Buffalo21]

I have 4 face mills, that I run on 3 different milling machines, a Rockwell (1hp), a Jet (2 hp) and the Franken-Mill (2hp), 2 of the face mills are 2” and the other 2 face mills are 2-1/2”. The best ones I own are the 2 of the 2”, one is a Walter F4041 and the other is a BangGood one, using APKT inserts. The Walter is a high buck unit, where the inserts are $25/ea, is a true metal eating monster, even at 1 hp, the BangGood one is a very good unit, removes metal fast and leaves a good finish, it also runs well at 1hp. The 2-1/2” face mills are pushing the of capacity even the 2 hp mills, could be the insert type or the extra diameter.

 

[theperfessor]

I have all sorts of carbide insert mills for my knee mill, the smallest (and extermely useful) being a 1-1/4" two flute cutter that uses a TPU/TPG insert. Positive rake, cheap insert, smallish size for lower HP machines, square shoulder. Got it from Enco years ago, but they're still available thru many vendors. Here is a link to the R8 shank/ TPU insert mills at Shars:

Indexable Milling - TPU - R8

Shop Shars Tool today and see why customers choose our high quality milling cutters at a great value, same-day shipping and dedicated customer support

www.shars.com

 

[speedybtx]

the 2" FM45 cutter from Glacern, its very nice


It more than nice ! it is what the OP needs ! Fantastic finish can be had.