An Inexpensive Cutter For The Mini Mill

[rake60]

As you all know, I'm a shopper when it comes to home tooling.
The mini-mills say the maximum end mill size is 1/2".
The maximum face mill is 1".

I went looking for an inexpensive 1" indexable insert cutter with an R8 shank
to fit the spindle of my Cummins mini mill.

I found one!

It came with two uncoated inserts mounted in it.
The coated inserts shown in the pictures were purchased from the same vendor.

Ready for a price?
Would you believe $16.50 from CME Tools eBay Store...

I've bought a lot of tools and inserts from this vendor.
They treat me very well! This order was recieved in three days.
Their shipping costs are a little high in my view, but I have a friend at work who
owns a mini mill identical to mine. I talked him into buying one of these cutters
and we split the shipping costs.

Yes, they are all China imports, but their quality for the price can't be beat!

Rick

 

[cfellows]

I bought a 1.25" version from JTS Machine on eBay. It uses TPG 321 inserts which I use for most of my turning on the lathe. This end mill gives extremely smooth finishes.

Chuck

 

[macona]

Be careful with those things. They will beat the living crud out of your mill. Like a hammer on the spindle with the way they have those inserts in there.

A real nice mill like that in the 1" area is an Iscar E90 series insert mill. Really good for low HP mills and there are all sorts of different inserts available. They use the APKT or equivalent insert.

 

[BobWarfield]

Be careful with those things. They will beat the living crud out of your mill. Like a hammer on the spindle with the way they have those inserts in there.

A real nice mill like that in the 1" area is an Iscar E90 series insert mill. Really good for low HP mills and there are all sorts of different inserts available. They use the APKT or equivalent insert.

I have a 5/8" Iscar E90. I think they call them Helimills. Man, that thing is the bee's knees! Cuts so nice. I would love to have a 1 inch, or maybe even an inch and a half. Love the positive rake cutter geometries.

Prices on these things look painful until you find one cheap on eBay, but it can be done.

Cheers,

BW

 

[rake60]

Be careful with those things. They will beat the living crud out of your mill. Like a hammer on the spindle with the way they have those inserts in there.

A real nice mill like that in the 1" area is an Iscar E90 series insert mill. Really good for low HP mills and there are all sorts of different inserts available. They use the APKT or equivalent insert.

Very good point Macona.
If it's hammering you have to lighten up.

At work we use 2" Iscar Hard Touch cutters that take the HELIDO inserts.

They replaced the old square insert cutters that we'd used for years.
What a difference!
Twice the speed, half the noise and the surface finishes are great.
They do make those cutters down to 25mm.
Knowing the cost of the 2" I'm afraid it would be far beyond my hobby budget
to buy the smaller one.
Next time the Iscar rep is in, I'll ask him just for a reference.

Rick

 

[BobWarfield]

Rick that Iscar is interesting. It shows three ways to get positive rake with indexable tooling. First, looks like there is some built into the insert. Second, the insert is laid back slightly to further increase the rake. Third, it looks to me like it is twisted slightly in the Z-axis (up and down) axis, so it has both radial and axial positive rake.

Best,

BW

 

[macona]

Those are some thick inserts!

The iscar cutter works great. I have cut everything from hardened tool steel to cast iron, to moglice with it always leaving a very nice finish. The hardened tool steel left almost a mirror finish and lots of HOT chips.

I just picked up a 2" version off of PM for $60 with 15 inserts. Will have to cut the shank down to use it but it should be a nice cutter. I also have the 4" version I found at a local used tool store for $20. I need to find a 1-1/2" shell arbor for it though. They all use the same insert which makes things nice. I just swapped out the R8 spindle in my mill for a 30 taper so I am building up tooling once again.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

I've gone through four bandsaw blades in my short 4 month career of 'wannabe model engineer'. One a month. Time to improve the cost/benefit ratio.

I've been doing some looking around but haven't seen too much information...nor too many issues. I must assume everyone else knows what needs to be known.

I changed blade types at one point. From some cheap stuff I got at Home Depot to some HSS (or was it bi-metal?) that I bought on-line. The last worked best, longest.

My suspicion is that I'm feeding wrong...too fast...too hard...not enough lube...etc. But what do I know?

If I want to continue this hobby (and I do very much) then I believe I need to address this issue. Hacksawing a 2" diameter rod of steel will probably cause me to drink more heavily than I do as an attempt to keep the other elbow in the same condition.

I have a Ryobi 9" bandsaw that I picked up at Home Depot. No speed adjustment. I don't need to stay with it.

I saw a recent post where someone trundled home a little prize horizontal bandsaw. Still...having the tool is one thing...knowing how to use it is another - as I'm sure we've all been told

Questions...hmm...

Speed?
Feed?
Lubrication?
Preferred bandsaw type?
Differences in metals.

Anything at all...point me where I need to go.
No..not that direction...I do intend to work at this.

Thanks.