Horizontal Mill Swarf Shields

Don't need to go looking for it -- the mill generates plenty for me without me asking. :-)

What speed and what size cutters -- on what material? I tend to use low enough RPMs so the swarf all goes away from me, and run a shop vac after every pass or two (this for example with a 6" diameter cutter stack adding up to 1-3/8" wide, in 6061-T6 aluminum.

Normally, at a sane speed for standard milling cutters for horizontal mill arbors, the chips will be flying away from you (at least where I stand with a lever feed on a Nichols horizontal mill). Same if I've switched to the leadscrew. Feeding the work towards me, conventional milling.

Now -- if you're using an end mill in a holder instead of standard cutters on an arbor, your best bet is to stand there with a shop vac sucking it up as it is created.

Not familiar with the AR-15 sight wrench, so I don't have a feel for the amount of swarf which will be created, but I suspect that it is fairly small compared to what I have been doing mostly.

Of course, in commercial operations, there is usually a coolant pump, and the coolant carries away the swarf, at least until the screen to separate the swarf from the coolant gets full. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

Heh, heh.

I need to look at the normal rotation direction again. I may have it backwards. And measure the speed, although the chips aren't too hot, so seems reasonable. But the chips are definitely going the wrong way. I based it on the left handed nut on the end of the arbor, but sometimes have trouble with that sort of thing, better with analog than binary.

I've just done conventional. I'm guessing climb milling for finish is more of a concern with an end mill. Also, this lead screw is way to worn to try it. I've got the materials for a new lead screw plus nuts, just need to pull the old one, measure it again, and get to work.

Actually tiny for the wrench. I used a 0.062" wide cutter for the wrench, just 4 prongs about 0.070" wide x .030" thick on 3/8" diameter drill rod, drilled and bored to leave the .030" ring. Had the stock in a 5C collet in the Hardinge dividing head, same collet as in the lathe to do the turning. One of the nice things about this mill, 5C spindle too.

Test cuts with a 1" wide 3" diameter helical cutter on steel scrap generated a fair amount.

Thanks, DoN. This mill has a pump, but I suspect it used oil, sump isn't very large, probably about a gallon. I doubt I'll use it. I will use the old x-axis feed gearbox, just need the right belt.

Pete Keillor

I don;'t have a horizontal mill, just vertical, but sometimes use side milling cutters typical on a horizontal. They DO produce a LOT of chips quickly! I have made two plexiglas shields that fit around the table to contain the chips. You have to literally shovel them out after a while.

Jon

Oh, no! If a large side mill digs in and pushes the table, it can easily bend the arbor or cause other disasters. I think the larger the diameter or the wider the width of the cut, the more dangerous a climb mill pass can be. Id say ONLY if you have near zero-backlash screws should you try climb milling on any heavy cut.

If you do aluminum, coolant is great! The main aim is to keep the workpiece cool. If aluminum heats up even a little, it becomes much more tricky to cut. Not far at all between oil smoking a little and the cutter becoming a huge glob of (workpiece) metal. And, of course, DAMHIKT!

Jon

Thanks for the input, Jon. I was trying to say conventional doesn't seem to recut chips on a horizontal as much as I'd suspect an end mill in a pocket would. Gunner disagreed. I also said I wouldn't try climb milling on a bet on this mill, because the leadscrew is way too worn. As a matter of fact, the acme thread looks like a sharp v on top in the middle of the screw. Screw and nuts need replacing bad, and will be.

Pete

Oh, MY! Yes, that's pretty bad wear. Also, a lot of differential wear makes measuring off the screw pretty inaccurate, less a problem on the X axis of a horizontal, but sometimes you need to stop at a particular spot.

Yes, I pretty much agree with Gunner, climb really improves surface finish, especially on Aluminum, and also helps protect the cutting edges. With conventional, the tooth slides across the just-cut surface until the pressure increases enough to punch through and start cutting. With climb, the tooth hits the un-cut edge and immediately plunges into the cut. This causes less wear. It also cleanly slices any chips that spun around on the cutter.

Jon

Take rounging cuts conventional then snug your table lock and lightly climb cut for a finish pass.