WTK Do I need a face mill

[chiroone]

Now that I have the PM 835, I am looking to start equipping it with the various tooling I believe I will need. I’m looking for something that could square up the stock and render a surface parallel and relatively smooth. I’m thinking a face mill will be needed for this and I’m thinking a 3 inch one with serve my interest about the best. Does that sound like it makes sense?

If so, What exactly do I need? I’ve looked on eBay, and I see the facemail head, but what do I need to hold that head, I know it will not fit in a standard collet

 

[benmychree]

Facemills generally need a shank, I suppose R8 on one end (if that is what your spindle is) and a diameter on the other end to suit your face mill tapped for a screw that holds the face mill onto the shank and keys to drive it.

 

[EmilioG]

I recently used an 3 insert APT end mill and they cut nicely. APT EM-20. Uses TCG-30 carbide inserts.
Squares up stock nicely. You can square up stock with a regular EM too, especially if the block is small.

 

[Ray C]

Face cutting is one of the more challenging aspects of milling because you need to consider relief/cutting angles and the amount of sideways vs downward force they apply. There's more to it than just selecting the diameter that you think is right for your machine. Is this for finishing or stock removal? How many HP motor do you have? Do you have powerfeed on the table? Are you working on rectangular parts where the cutter will over-hang the stock or are you working on plates? Holding things in vise or clamping flat to table? All of those things are factors for what style face-cutter is used for a given operation.

If you're new to milling, load-up on carbide endmills between 1/4 to 1/2" and go to town.

FWIW, my favorite size face mill for my 1.5 HP machine is 1.5". I have several with different relief angles and inserts to accomplish different things.

Ray

 

[talvare]

You will need a Face Mill Arbor of the appropriate size for what ever face mill you choose (determined by the center pin size and drive dogs) and with the appropriate shank for your mill ( R-8, Morse Taper, NMTB, etc.). Here is an example: https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/49349285

Ted

 

[magicniner]

Don't forget that the larger the diameter of cutter you use the better your mill's Tram needs to be set ;-)

 

[Ray C]

It was getting late and didn't have time to find and post it so, here now is the style I get a lot of mileage out of.

http://www.shars.com/products/index...ing/r8-shank-1-1-2-carbide-indexable-end-mill

I also have a 1" version and am pretty sure it's a Weldon shank style. As much as possible, I prefer tools with integrated R8 shanks. The upside is rigidity. The downsides are increased change-out time and possible obsolescence if you ever change your machine to a different spindle format.

One thing to note, is that when setting the inserts in a cutter like this, each one has to protrude the same amount. Some folks do this by chucking the shaft in the lathe and indicating the tips of the inserts. I cheat and put it in the mill, let the inserts rest on a flat part of the vise and let gravity do the work for me as I snug them into place.

Ray

 

[Alan H.]

For an additional benchmark -

I recently bought a Glacern facemill setup for my PM935TV.

1" R8 arbor (R8-FM100)
3" facemill (FM45-300)
2" facemill (FM90-300)

Unfortunately this setup is a bit pricey but seems to be top shelf stuff. Of course the inserts add significantly to the acquisition costs if you cover the material spectrum. Here's what the cutters and arbor look like. You will notice that FM45 3" is not small.



Here's the 3 incher mounted on the arbor and a glimpse at the inserts for both style cutters.



I just received all the inserts and have not tested either cutter yet. First spin will likely be on some cast iron that I need to work on.

 

[gwade]

Have you considered just using a fly-cutter? Works for me as I don't do it all that often.