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| Can the Sieg X2 Mill make T-Slots? |
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| MetalMuncher:
I can't seem to find the answer here by searching, so I thought I would ask if any of you using a typical mini-mill like my Homier Speedway model has ever milled T-Slots with it? I made a tool plate table for the top of my 3" Grizzly rotary table. It is 6061 aluminum .800 thick and 6" in diameter. I would like to mill T-slots in it so I can mount work pieces using them. I have been using this mill for 9 years, have made lots of modifications, including a 3 axis DRO-350, and most recently the stiffening bolster plate on the back of the column to make it much stronger. So I think the hardware is up to the task. But is the stock motor strong enough? From what I have read, the typical way to do it is to mill a slot for the center of the T-Slot and then use a T-Slot cutter to make the "head" grooves, but this has to be done in a single pass. Seems like quite a cut to be making. However, since adding the stiffening plate, I found with a 3/8" end mill I can take 0.1" deep cuts in aluminum without worry. So perhaps this would be possible? But I also saw the 1" end mill I have stall the motor (I have the LMS belt drive conversion) when I tried to do a 0.050" deep pass across aluminum with it. I know the mill is rated at 1/2" end mill max, but I've done a lot of things on this mill that I would say go above and beyond its intended function. :) I am not sure what size T slots I want to use, but making them the same dimensions as the mill table would allow me to use the hold down kit I have for it on the rotary table too. However, I have seen some smaller scale hold down kits, so if need be I could use smaller slots. |
| John Rudd:
Short answer is yes.... I have a mini mill and have made Tee slots using an appropriate cutter.... Just dont go trying to make something that the machine can't handle... |
| MetalMuncher:
--- Quote from: John Rudd on March 13, 2014, 07:13:36 AM --- Short answer is yes.... I have a mini mill and have made Tee slots using an appropriate cutter.... Just dont go trying to make something that the machine can't handle... --- End quote --- So, short story answer is "yes, maybe no". :lol: Thanks. I ordered a cutter. I'll report back after I use it. For me, being completely self taught while using a professional textbook, websites, and forums as guidelines, over these 10 years with my mini-lathe and almost 10 with the mini-mill I have become accustomed to their sound in operation. They tell me when I try to push them toward what I believe is the limit of their capacity. But understand when I read some accounts of vibrations being so severe that parts and knobs fall off of some people's machines, I would never operate that way. The quieter the better when it comes to my tools. One of my favorite sounds is the quiet distant-sounding thump of using my R8 fly cutter, which always reminds me of a helicopter passing by at a distance. With the 0.050" depth attempt I mentioned above that stalled the motor, thinking about it I realized that all the "chart" parameters for speeds and feeds on a 1" end mill would be an amplified load compared to a 1/2" or 3/8" end mill. I knew to reduce the speed in half. But this small motor lacks low end torque, so that contributed to the stall. Actually, it did cut OK for most of the pass along a 3" piece, but the stall came at the end when it was exiting. Much like how a drill bit will do the same thing at the bottom of a hole sometimes. Probably a variance in feed rate on the table's speed controller, as the forward force got lessened when the leading edge of the end mill broke through. I use the X axis power feed sold by MicroMark and LMS, and it's stability trails off at really slow speeds. Simple solution - take a lighter cut. At 0.030” it worked very smoothly. I will make this attempt at cutting T slots with the utmost caution, and practice on a scrap piece first. And I think it would be prudent not to try it while the tool plate disc I made is mounted on the 3 inch table, but instead clamp the disc on blocks to the mill table itself. Thanks again for your reply. :) |
| John Rudd:
One thing you need to remember is that if you go for a practise cut, the that's 'one life' less for the cutter..... As for cutting speed, use tables as a guide and use the sound of the machine more....that is because they are just that, a guide...as you said from your own experience you know the sound of your machines and know when they are labouring... Cutting alloy....use plenty of coolant, paraffin is cheap enough and if it starts to smoke too much reduce the feed rate... GL... :dremel: |
| chipenter:
I have an Sieg X1\micro mill and have cut t slots in cast iron , the cutter balences it self a cuts smoothly with a very slow feed , |
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