Mill cutter orientation

[Boucher]

I need to make a square nosed wrench to fit a lathe chuck. I seem to dull more milling cutters on the end so I have a good supply that the spiral sides are still sharp. The recent article by Steve Ackers showed him making the cut with the end of the cutter. Either way will obviously work but using the side produces a better finish. The needle sharp cutting by this orientation is one down side. How would you make this cut?

[Rich Carlstedt]

If you have end mills with damaged corners ( Too Fast !) you can grind them off freehand and make a 45 degree corner .
Just put some back relief and keep it cool. Then they will have a new life.

I would stand the wrench vertically and use the X-Y axis moves to get a square and lower the quill just enough to cut, without
over loading the cutter. If you mark your crank dials you can move in the right amount after a roughing pass (s) .
Rich

[Bob Ford]

Spindex or other method to index. Use a table stop to limit travel. Cut from the end and climb mill if your machine is capable. Multiple passes if needed. I do this to make octagon barrels.

Bob

[oxford]

I had to make one a while back and didn't have a mill so I had to use the lathe with no milling attachment. I put the end mill in the 4 jaw and indicated. I then used the boring bar holder for my QCTP to hold the stock. I set the holder square to the chuck and fed in with the cross slide. I used the height screw on the tool holder to set feed depth and used an indicator on top to see how much it was moving. Once one side was done I rotated the piece and put the newly cut flat against the chuck so it would be indexed square for the next cut. Then repeat.

Probably not the answer you were looking for but may be helpful to someone.

[Old Hat]

Use the sides for a better transition from round to square.
Tooling 101, if a sharp corner or transition is not needed, don't make one.

[Rosco-P]

Use the sides for a better transition from round to square.
Tooling 101, if a sharp corner or transition is not needed, don't make one.

Bingo!

Holding the material horizontally in a collet block in you mill vise will also allow for easy indexing.

[PStechPaul]

Wouldn't a grinder work well for this? You could even use a trashed HSS end mill and make a handle to fit the Weldon flat key of the shank. The shape, size, and orientation of the square do not need to be very precise, and a wrench made of HSS or other hard material would probably never wear out (although it could wear out the sockets of the adjusting screws).

Another idea is to get a piece of square stock the right size and make a handle to fit it, which could be mechanically secured or welded.

Trying to think "outside the box"...

[Bob Fisher]

I'm with Old Hat on this one, even looks better finished.Bob.

[J Tiers]

I tend to agree.

On the other hand, of my chuck wrenches, 3 out of 5 are done with sharp corners..... similar to being cut with the end. Of the two remaining, one is forged, and tapers to the square, and the other I made.... with the side of the cutter.

[Old Hat]

I tend to agree.

On the other hand, of my chuck wrenches, 3 out of 5 are done with sharp corners..... similar to being cut with the end. Of the two remaining, one is forged, and tapers to the square, and the other I made.... with the side of the cutter.

I'll hand ya this much, I have a Cleco 1/2" impact that's older than many of you.
It out powered brand new Chicago Pneumatics when I got it in '77' for $10.
The square drive was formed with corners that couldn't have more than an .02 radius on them.
It's still go'n strong.
BUT.
If I make a tool like that, I'll be up at night waiting for a call from the customer . . .
"Hey you need to relace xxx component, how fast can you turn it around?"

[J Tiers]

Makes a big difference whether those inside corners are forged or cut.....

betcha that one you have was forged to form

The ones I refer to are cut, you can see the toolmarks. A chuck wrench just does not take the abuse that a socket wrench does. At least we sure hope not........

[Old Hat]

. A chuck wrench just does not take the abuse that a socket wrench does. At least we sure hope not........

You've appearantly never witnessed a "true Master with a lenght of Pipe!"

[J Tiers]

Correct.

I have heard about them, though...... I have even seen the bent wrench.

Just never saw the "idiot in progress".

[Old Hat]

I used to repair trim-dies for die-cast outfits.

To complete a run, a die that isn't trimming will sometimes get "the treatment".
They sledge-hammer the shoe enuff to force the offending die segments
back closer to the punch. Then when done, pull the tool, bring it over
and ask if we can "touch it up a little" to get it back good as new.