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Small milling cutters

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Fergus OMore:

My thoughts are that you are probably not using the correct cutter.

If you are using a 'slot drill' slot drill, you might try an end mill.

I've just been trying to sort out the goodies which came with my little Myford ML10 and found that whoever had owned the lathe used the faceplate and a single point  tool  to mill.

My suggestions might be wrong, however.

Cheers


Norman

DavidA:
Norman,

You may be right, I am using a slot drill.

I admit that I didn't expect it to make a difference.
I always thought that the only real difference was that you could plunge with a slot drill, but not with an end mill, but it is certainly worth giving an end mill a try.

Dave.

DavidA:
I managed to finish the 'T' nuts.  It would appear that the main problem was that |I was being too gentle on the feeds and speeds.

I upped the speed to something around 1350 rpm (hard to tell, no markings; A cheapo tacho is on it's way) and fed it quite aggressively and this seemed to work.

It was a new cutter when I started, and towards the end the vibration was starting to tell me that the edge was going.

On removal, the very tips of the cutter were showing signs of wear, but the rest of the edge was ok. no apparent wear on the flutes. So really it needs sharpening before any further use.
The conclusion I come to is that it doesn't matter if it is an end mill or a slot drill as only the very tips do any cutting in normal milling.

 And that when cutting anything tougher than leaded steel it may be worth getting a carbide.

Dave.

seadog:
You can't plunge with all end mills, some are not centre cutting.

DavidA:
Seadog,

Yes, I know.

See my response (#6 above) to Norman.

Dave.

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