I've just finished boring a 34.7mm diameter hole through some 26mm thick free cutting steel. This was such an exciting task that I started to think about the features that make a good boring head. I know that there are lots of designs by smart people but I rather want to have a go at my own, at least designing it.
Broadly, my known requirements are
1/ Usable on my Sieg X2 mill with an MT3 spindle
2/ Have a range up to (say) 40mm diameter with a vertical tool (pre-supposing that "conventional" layout is used)
3/ If built at all, to be built on my X2 mill and C3 lathe
So, it seems to me that the requirements are
1/ Rigidity
2/ Smooth and accurate changes of diameter
3/ Rigid toolholding
4/ As short in "Z" as possible
Anyone got any comments?
Or should I just go and buy a good one, if so what?
cheers
Bill