Cutting tooling for a milling machine

Little Machine Shop has an inexpensive set of BS taper collets available. I have seen BS taper endmill holders out there as well.

You could also consider getting the spindles ground out to an R8 taper and take advantage of a far wider selection of tooling. The cost benefit of that one, will depend on who does the work, but it is one that I would consider before I went out and bought a pile of tooling. IIRC a price of around $250 US is banged around as a reference point.

Had to do a search for Universal Y and Z collets.

Take a look at a tool catalog. For holding end mills, you will only need the sizes that end mills come in. The other sizes are really only useful if they coincide with a diameter of a workpiece or tool that you might use or need someday.

You could get by quite well with 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4, for just holding end mills and straight shank tooling, provided you shopped for tools accordingly.

Cheers Trevor Jones

collets.http://www.gpcollets.com/universal_double_taper_collet.htm

Thanks for pointing me to the BS9 Collet set (I never saw them before in Littlemachine shop)

it does sound like i am in the right ballpark for tooling though by the sounds and looks of things. Between straight shank and R8 tooling seems to be abundant.

Getting my spindle recut (which the manufacturer will do) seems a prudent investment. and form looking aound it MIGHT be possible to recycle things like an er32 collet set between my mill and my lathe then if i buy two collet holders (One MT3 and one R8)

My only other question is other than endmills and a flycutter drill chuck and perhaps a boring head what other tools are needed for most regular milling tasks?

Am i wrong in thinking that those four cutting tools plus creative workholding (Dividing heads rotary tables a good vise and lots of creative clamping) can essentially make almost anything a home shop machinist would need?

Thanks in advance

Brent Ottawa Canada

collets.http://www.gpcollets.com/universal_double_taper_collet.htm

============ Two books that will be of great help to you are:

Turret Mill Operation by Edwards

Machine Shop Trade Secrets by Harvey

You will also need a good [not expensive, good] edge finder and wiggler. One of the best edge finders is

however any of the good but less expensive units will serve you well. for example see

The less expensive wiggler sets such as will adequate.

or see

If you will be doing a lot of precision drilling/boring [from a location standpoint] a coax indicator can be a good investment. See recent thread on this. some examples are

One "trick" I have found helpful, particularly on older machines with lots of wear, is magnetic back dial indicators. These give you a direct readout of how much you are moving and will also indicate if the table shifts when you clamp it down. Not as nice a digital readout, but not as expensive either, and you can easily shift to other tools/jobs. See

I bought 2 inch travel indicators, but 1 inch travel is adequate for 99.99% of what I do. look for a deal on a "mightymag" holder and indicator or magnetic back and indicator.

Much will depend on the types of projects you will be doing, however I have found for the type of things I do a magnet sine bar is extremely helpful. See the one I bought at

also note: MSC and Enco are the same company and generally if you ask Enco will sell you the MSC item. MSC is the volume/industrial side of the business.

You will need a set of space blocks to set the sine bar, but in turn these are very helpful with precision layout by using the correct height and a flat scribe. Of course you can also use gauge blocks but these are much more expensive. for some examples see

in addition to the drop indicators you will also need a test indicator. Get a less expensive one to start, and then move up if you feel the need. FWIW -- the rod on most of the magnetic bases is much too long, and you will need to shorten it. The bases are not expensive and you may want to get two, one to shorten and one to leave stock. see

There are many more sources for these tools, and sources are shown for prices and pictures. only.

Unka' George [George McDuffee] ============ Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. president. Letter, 17 March 1814.

Certainly go with the R8 spindle change if you can get it done. I have an old US Machine Tool vertical mill with B&S #9 spindle and I do exactly what you are talking about doing. A set of 1/16" to 1/2" collets came with it and I bought a bigger collet holder and collet set that goes up to an inch, I think. I have a separate 3/4" end mill holder that I keep a 1 1/2" indexable face mill in and I have a B&S #9 shank boring bar. That face mill gets used a lot. So, yes, I do use a lot of straight shank tooling. And, of course, end mills go into those collets, too. I do use that collet set all the time. Several years ago I invested in a moderate priced Silver and Deming drill bit set, 33/64 to

1" by 64ths. I will never regret it. This lets me use my 1/2" collet to dril up to an inch. If I need a better drill bit for a specific job, I buy it.

Pete Stanaitis

--------------------------- Brent wrote: