Fly-cutting with lathe tooling plate

[nickel-city-fab]

My simple idea for a flycutter using the recently posted lathe tooling plate. Several holes positions work as-is. Note that NOT all of the hole positions will work without shims or washers. It all depends on how the tap was "timed" when threading that particular hole. Dirt cheap-n-cheerful. I got a dozen of the 1/2" (12mm) brazed bits at HF for $20.

[old mart]

Looks a bit dodgy to me, how about a slot along 1/3 length of the one lying down on the plate, then it can be adjusted for radius and the lower profile and 2 screws. A stepped slot would work with SHCS.

[Tungsten dipper]

A little chattery to me.

[nickel-city-fab]

Looks a bit dodgy to me, how about a slot along 1/3 length of the one lying down on the plate, then it can be adjusted for radius and the lower profile and 2 screws. A stepped slot would work with SHCS.

The idea of making a slot with a hacksaw, chisel, and file simply doesn't appeal to me. The milling attachment that came with the lathe turned out to be useless junk, and not even made by South Bend. I dismantled it for the vise.

[nickel-city-fab]

A little chattery to me.

Indeed I would love to shorten it up a bit,,, going to have to figure a way to hole it though. One alternative maybe to use 1/4" HSS round instead, I have some of that sitting around. Thread one end and sharpen the other.

[Tim Clarke]

If you have any left hand bits, bore clearance holes in the shank perpendicular to the shank, and countersink for flat head screws. Overhang is your enemy.

[old mart]

Shame about the milling attachment, I know what they are like, I still have the one for my 7X12 and only used it once. The length of the modified tool was what prompted me to worry about it, and the forces will tend to turn it no matter how tight it is.
What about threading one sideways and bolting it to a piece of thick angle, or a square block which can be bolted to the plate?

[tom_d]

Nice idea, in theory. Unfortunately the leverage of an interrupted cut against those threads is going to loosen things up in a hurry. If the shortened tool bits were brazed, or welded to a backing plate that was bolted to the face plate the forces could be spread out over a larger area with multiple attach points per tool. And there could be gussets added to the back side of the tool bit, opposite the cutting edge, to provide additional support.

[nickel-city-fab]

If you have any left hand bits, bore clearance holes in the shank perpendicular to the shank, and countersink for flat head screws. Overhang is your enemy.

I don't think I have any left-hand but I do have a dozen of these bits brand-new, and not doing anything with them -- so maybe I can experiment a bit. I don't like the overhang either but I don't see an easy way out of the situation. Perhaps I could just drill thru and bolt a shank on to the plate, laying flat.

[nickel-city-fab]

Well, some days you get lucky. The idea of fly cutting with the red bits was nice, but not really workable. I just found a brazed carbide LH bit in the bottom of a box full of stuff I would normally never use. So tomorrow I'm going to drill the shank crosswise so it can lay flat to the faceplate with a couple holes. I'll probably have to grind the shank to clear the screw heads, I have some button-head SHCS for it.

[tom_d]

Well, some days you get lucky. The idea of fly cutting with the red bits was nice, but not really workable. I just found a brazed carbide LH bit in the bottom of a box full of stuff I would normally never use. So tomorrow I'm going to drill the shank crosswise so it can lay flat to the faceplate with a couple holes. I'll probably have to grind the shank to clear the screw heads, I have some button-head SHCS for it.

Yup, that'll work. What size are the screws? Can you counterbore the tool bit shank so the screw heads are flush? Screws are going to see a side load in this application, so counterboring would help. It's not necessary, but the shorter the screws the better. You can also place a thin spacer under the tool bit. If the spacer is cut at a slight angle, say 3-5 degrees, this would modify the tool geometry angles if needed.

[nickel-city-fab]

Yup, that'll work. What size are the screws? Can you counterbore the tool bit shank so the screw heads are flush? Screws are going to see a side load in this application, so counterboring would help. It's not necessary, but the shorter the screws the better. You can also place a thin spacer under the tool bit. If the spacer is cut at a slight angle, say 3-5 degrees, this would modify the tool geometry angles if needed.

Can't realistically counterbore, but I can grind the shank a bit thinner, or even on a taper. The screws I have are 1/4-28 button-heads x 1" long.

[J Tiers]

You know, a regular fly cutter for a mill would work fine held in a chuck........ Just sayin'

How you holding the work if the milling attachment is NDG? You have to hold the vise somehow, or bolt down to the crosslide, etc.

Was the milling device a Palmgren? Those have a vise on a slide, bolted with one pivot bolt to an angle bracket that has a sort of fork to be held down to the compound by a lantern toolpost.

Those work OK if the crosslide and compound are tight. Otherwise you are better off with a block in place of the compound. A loose compound etc will cause it to bounce around like a tennis ball.

Methinks you need a mill. Or a t-slot crosslide.

[nickel-city-fab]

You know, a regular fly cutter for a mill would work fine held in a chuck........ Just sayin'

How you holding the work if the milling attachment is NDG? You have to hold the vise somehow, or bolt down to the crosslide, etc.

Was the milling device a Palmgren? Those have a vise on a slide, bolted with one pivot bolt to an angle bracket that has a sort of fork to be held down to the compound by a lantern toolpost.

Those work OK if the crosslide and compound are tight. Otherwise you are better off with a block in place of the compound. A loose compound etc will cause it to bounce around like a tennis ball.

Methinks you need a mill. Or a t-slot crosslide.

I try to avoid milling basically. But when necessary, I hold it in a regular AXA tool block. Obviously the size is very limited this way, but it works well -- pretty solid. The mill attachment I had was indeed a Palmgren, but it mounted thru the pivot into the swivel dovetail in place of the compound. It was as lip as a wet noodle. A good solution would be to devise a way to mount the vise on a tool block permanently.

I'm sure I could use a regular fly cutter in the chuck, but that would be too easy Besides I want to make a set of accessories for my faceplate, incl all the clamping bits and the flycutter.

Fact is, i would dearly love to get some sort of smaller (bench or desktop) mill. Na Ga happen till at least next year, mainly financial reasons.

[J Tiers]

It kinda sounds as if the Palmgren had an issue with the base.

Got any pics of it?

You might check out "Metal lathe accessories" (which I think was renamed to something similar) and look at the stuff they have for milling on the lathe. Might give you some ideas on how to make something for the purpose out of material you can scrounge, using as much of the Palmgren stuff as you can.

The MLA milling stuff is generally designed so that you can do all the machining on the lathe to make it.