End mill holder for lathe?

[Chris S.]

I've already bought the milling attachment and have every intention of using it, I just need to learn a few things.

I certainly hope you didn't buy something like this..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Palmgren-150...item27be395324

This type was designed to hang off of your tool post. This kind of setup is about as rigid as cooked linguine. Other designs, like South Bend did a better job of it, as their milling attachments mounted directly to the Cross Slide, like this..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-SOU...item5646166cbc

Even that method isn't nearly as good (Rigid) as this...

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/sho...=milling+lathe

Chris

[dave5605]

What about one of those cheap 5C collet blocks with the appropriate size collet (he says while ducking for cover)?

[parrisw]

I certainly hope you didn't buy something like this..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Palmgren-150...item27be395324

This type was designed to hang off of your tool post. This kind of setup is about as rigid as cooked linguine. Other designs, like South Bend did a better job of it, as their milling attachments mounted directly to the Cross Slide, like this..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-SOU...item5646166cbc

Even that method isn't nearly as good (Rigid) as this...

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/sho...=milling+lathe

Chris

I got one like the second link. Its an orignal southbend one.

The 3rd looks good, looks custom made. Nice!

[vpt]

Hi,

Some don't think it's proper, but since I consider milling in a lathe a light duty operation, I just grip it in the 3-jaw chuck and have at it.

The deepest cuts I can do in mild steel are only .050" with a 3/8" end mill. And most of my cuts are less than that. So I don't fear the end mill slipping and spinning in the chuck jaws.

dalee

Yup, I wrap a aluminum strip around the endmill and clamp it in the 3 jaw for quick light usage like mentioned. In fact I used one today in the 3 jaw. I have a collet system and lever closer for heavy stuff.


Oh and the cross slide ones are just fine, built my whole qctp with it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0vk2SQRQnQ

[parrisw]

Does this look ok, is it a good price?

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/8-piece-ER32-...item4838120a6d

Also with the ER32 system, will it accept only certain end mills and face mills? I guess as long as its a straight shank?

[Chris S.]

Does this look ok, is it a good price?

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/8-piece-ER32-...item4838120a6d

Probably not. The seller is not listing any manufacturer's name, so I assume it's a Chicom import. There are other regular ebay sellers that are also Chicom but their's are a 25 piece set with a $99.00 reserve. No wooden box but you can make your own. Their shipping is more reasonable too!

EDIT: Oops those are ER-40 collets that I'm referring to, but ER-40's will allow for larger collets than the ER-32 anyway.

[JCHannum]

Jan Michaels, known to us as TGTools, offers the wherewithall to make an ER32 X 1-1/2"-8 as well as completed units.

http://www.tallgrasstools.com/ER-32ColletKit.html

[parrisw]

Probably not. The seller is not listing any manufacturer's name, so I assume it's a Chicom import. There are other regular ebay sellers that are also Chicom but their's are a 25 piece set with a $99.00 reserve. No wooden box but you can make your own. Their shipping is more reasonable too!

EDIT: Oops those are ER-40 collets that I'm referring to, but ER-40's will allow for larger collets than the ER-32 anyway.

So would ER40's work fine for me in my lathe. Searching ebay right now.

[franco]

So would ER40's work fine for me in my lathe. Searching ebay right now.

Yes, they would work fine for your lathe, but I suggest they would be very much an overkill for your purposes.

While the ER40 collets will hold up to a 26mm end mill, this would be pushing your milling slide well beyond its limits. The largest ER32 collet will hold a 20mm or 3/4" end mill, which I suspect would also be too big to do useful work with a milling slide on a fairly light 9" lathe, because the design of the milling slide, while OK for light work, is not very rigid. I doubt you will want to use anything over 1/2" normally

If you are also going to use the collets for workholding, the ER40 chuck is quite a bit bigger overall than the ER32 chuck, so access to smaller items is easier when mounted in the smaller chuck. If you have any intention in the future of making or buying a spindle nose chuck so you can pass long workpieces through the headstock spindle, there is no point in going bigger than ER32, because your headstock spindle, if it has a 3MT, won't pass anything bigger than about 20mm anyway.


FWIW I have a similar sized lathe to yours. I bought an ER32 chuck similar to the one in your link in post 25 - possibly a different make, but still Chinese, and it has proved to be quite OK - maybe I was just lucky. It came with a limited selection of metric collets, which could be used to hold all the common end mill shanks.

There were a couple of larger ones, a 13-12 mm one, which holds 1/2" and 12mm end mill shanks, a 10-9, which holds 10mm and 3/8" shanks, an 8-7 which holds 8mm and 5/16", a 7-6, which holds 1/4" and 6mm, and a 4-3, which covers 1/8" and 3mm. I have added individual collets as required until I now have the full set. My personal preference is for the metric series ER32 collets because there are no size gaps between collets - I seem to remember reading somewhere recently there are a few in the standard collet sizes with the 1/16" rather than 1mm steps, though I can't confirm this.

franco

[Al Messer]

I made my own. It looks and works just like the one Atlas used to sell for their 6 and 12 inch lathes. The holder is MT3 and has a set screw in the side to keep the cutter from slipping. The draw-in rod was made and threaded to suit the holder. Works like a charm since 1993.

Al

I got the photo of my end mill holder as far as posting it on Photobucket. I cannot get it to load to this site! RATZ!

Al