Quick Change Tool Holder as milling fixture

[cfellows]

Here's a quick and easy fixture for holding pieces to mill the edge. Here you can see I'm getting ready to mill the side of a connecting rod. The piece need to be mounted at a slight angle to get the right taper. I clamped the connecting rod into one of my quick change tool holders, using a piece of 1/8" square rod to keep the clamping screws from marring the piece. The tool holder is then clamped into the milling vice as shown.

Chuck

 

[mklotz]

Chuck,

Ultimately, holding your endmill in a drill chuck is going to come back and bite you.

A conventional drill has a soft tang so the chuck jaws can 'bite' into it and get a grip.
Endmills are hardened throughout and a drill chuck can't grip them firmly enough to keep the endmill from pulling out if you take a serious cut. Plus there is the problem of chuck runout with which to deal.

Do yourself a favor and get some endmill holders. They're not terribly expensive and you probably only need to buy two sizes, 3/8 and 1/2" to fit most of your milling cutters. A collet system will work as well (and be otherwise useful) but that's a bit more money.

 

[rake60]

I've had a few end mills suck out of a drill chuck myself.
Never to dangerous results, but to a few parts being tossed into the
"I'll be able to use that for something else" box.

The fixture idea is a Great One!

Rick

 

[cfellows]

Yeah, I have a couple of endmill holders, but unfortunately, don't have a 1/2" size, which is the size end mill I have in the chuck. Sometimes I just get lazy and use the drill chuck instead of going to the trouble of changing to the proper tooling. Doesn't seem to be much of a problem with aluminum as long as I don't take too big a bite. Fortunately, the runnout on my drill chuck is pretty minimal.

Chuck