Can the Sieg X2 Mill make T-Slots?

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MetalMuncher:
So, I just read Wikipedia articles on paraffin and kerosene, and among other things mentioned here, I found that the word kerosene is based on the greek word keros, which means wax. :) They even mentioned using it as a cutting oil. And that kerosene is called paraffin in several parts of the world.

I found a cool way to visualize a milling job. A 7/16 collet works very well on the body of Sharpie marker. So with the marker spindle-mounted. I proceeded to follow the paths where I want the T-Slots to be cut, using my DRO for positioning. I got into some side jobs, so did not start milling the slots tonight. Once I get to see the cutter tomorrow, I can start working on the slots.

Thanks for all the advice!

MetalMuncher:
The T-slot cutter finally arrived, so I did some measuring of it. Thought I'd share this because of my confusion on selecting a cutter. I mentioned above that Enco uses the size of the intended bolt in the T-Nut as the main description on its cutter sizes. The Homier X2 mill specs say it has "7/16 T-Slots". The dimension that matches that, when I measured the table slot dimensions, is the actual throat width, through which the bolt would pass from a T-Nut to hold whatever you have on the table. However, I could not find any T-Slot cutters on Amazon that were specified "7/16". So I ordered the Grizzly "1/2 Inch" model. I checked the Grizzly website to try to determine by what parameter they are measuring 1/2", but found nothing.

Well, the tube their cutter ships in is marked "for 1/2 inch Bolt". Followed by "Grizzly H5912 T-Slot Cutter 1/2-Inch". And the head space width dimension looks to be 0.968”. That is about 0.2" wider than the slots on the X2 table. It's throat width measures 0.505”, so it would not pass between the lands of the slots on the X2 table, which are approx. the 7/16 mentioned above. But milling an initial slot a little wider than 1/2" might allow me to use it on the rotary table tool plate project.

The head space depth looks to be 0.416". I'm not near the mill right now, so unsure of that dimension on its table slots. But I do know the entire depth of each slot below the table surface is 5/8". So if having only 0.250" of material thickness above the T-Nut for it to pull on is a sufficient amount, I could use this cutter to make slots that would accommodate my existing T-Nuts for the mill table, and still be OK within the 0.800" thickness of the plate I made. They would just be a bit wider than needed at the bottom, and also about 1/16 wider at the tops, compared to the mill table slots. Since a bit of wiggle room for indicating stock alignment on a mill job is often needed, I don't think it would be a problem. However, there is always the option of making new T-Nuts specifically for this table, and I could still use 3/8 bolts in them, allowing my current clamping kit to be used on it.

The bottom line seems to be that vendors refer to the clamping bolt diameter when they give a single fractional size for a T-Slot Cutter. Lesson learned. ;)

MetalMuncher:
After measuring the mill table T-Slots, and seeing they have 0.312" throat depth between the slots, I realized if I did try doing the above with only 0.25" throat depth, the existing mill table's T-Nuts would be too tall, and would stick up above the table surface, so they would not work anyway. Due to the thickness of the material I am working with, I have decided to wait, and ordered a 3/8" T-Slot Cutter instead. Plus it will be less load on the mill to use it, compared to the larger 1/2" style cutter.

ieezitin:
Muncher..

If the neck is to wide in diameter stick it in a 18volt drill and grind off the offending meat. I posted earlier to you and forgot to mention..... when you actually go to mill out your slots make double sure you clear the swarf behind the path the cutter is ploughing through, it will back-drag up chips and clog.

Happy slotting.... :wave: Anthony.

MetalMuncher:

--- Quote from: ieezitin on March 15, 2014, 06:36:21 AM ---Muncher..

If the neck is to wide in diameter stick it in a 18volt drill and grind off the offending meat. I posted earlier to you and forgot to mention..... when you actually go to mill out your slots make double sure you clear the swarf behind the path the cutter is ploughing through, it will back-drag up chips and clog.

Happy slotting.... :wave: Anthony.

--- End quote ---

That would solve the neck issue, but still leave me the problem of the throat depth. I don't have enough material thickness to use the 1/2" slotter and make the material thickness around the neck be thick enough so my existing T-nuts would be usable below the table surface. I should have looked into T-Slotting parameters before I ordered the stock, and probably used 1" thick instead of 0.800 (for which my intended final dimension was 3/4" - but once I got it milled flat and parallel I still had 0.816", so decided to keep the thickness I had). I really had not thought about T-Slotting it when I planned this project. I had been thinking more along the lines of drilled and tapped holes more like a tooling plate. I only opted for T-Slots after it was milled flat.. So if I had to have the 1/2" T-Slots I would be in trouble here. The 3/8 slotter will arrive Monday.

Thanks for the tips! I would not have thought about the chips getting sucked back in. I'll see if I can rig my shop vac hose to ride along behind the stock and handle the chips.

Last night I added alignment grooves in inch increments from 1" thru 5". I used a 1/8" ball end mill held vertically at a depth of 0.013". Turned out nicely.

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