Import Arbor for Clausing 8540 Horizontal Mill

I can't help you with that, but we few 8540 users should keep in touch.

If you are keeping a list of owners, please add me to it. I've got almost two of them. An 8540 and most of the parts for an 8550. One of these days I'll part out what's left of the 8550.

The import arbors seem to fit the spindle on the 8540 just fine but will need some modification to fit the arbor support. I haven't verified it yet, but someone sent me a drawing of the 8540 arbor quite a while back, so email me if youd like a copy of that. Clausing no longer sells the arbors and although they will provide drawings of parts they no longer sell, they didn't have one for the arbor.

BTW, Yahoo has a group for Clausing lathe and mill owners which can be a good source of info.

Mike

It is enough for you to announce yourself as such here, then you are perpetually available via deja.com.

According to snipped-for-privacy@aol.com :

I don't have experience with the Clausing 8540, but I do have experience with mounting BT and CAT 40 taper end mill holders on a Nichols horizontal mill.

The primary difference (assuming that your Clausing uses a drawbar rather than a quick-change mechanism) is that the BT and CAT tool holders have a special ball stud screwed directly into the back of the taper, with no cylindrical collar, while the NTMB and similar end mill holders, and arbors have a flange which can be gripped by an appropriate ring (as in the 30-taper spindle for the Bridgeport Series I machines). Also, the CAT and BT tapers have two different sized notches to assure re-insertion in the same relationship to the spindle's rotation so indexed taps and such will repeat, while the notches on the NTMB flange are of equal size. Also the CAT and BT holders have a thicker flange with a turned V for use by the quick-change tool turret mechanism.

I have modified BT and CAT tapers to use in my Nichols mill. Be aware that the width of the slots is not important on that machine, as the keys are simply the heads of Allen head cap screws, and those will fit into any of the slots. The original arbors for the Nichols actually had no slots in a flange, but instead had a cross-drilled hole with some drill rod fitted and held by a setscrew. You may need to make sure that the smaller of the two slots is large enough to accommodate the key on the spindle.

Anyway -- to modify the 40 taper CAT and BT holders, what I needed to do is:

1) Heat the back of the holder to release the Loctite and unscrew the ball stud which is normally gripped by a powered drawbar. 2) Machine a cylindrical section to match that on the NTMB holders and tap it to receive the standard drawbar thread. I happened to use 12L14 steel because I had it on hand, and it is easy to machine. You don't need any particularly strong steel for this. 3) Use Loctite

I have one, and I use all the various 30 taper types in it by simply keeping extra drawbolts with the various threads on them. Same with the Gorton MasterMill..uses the same 30 taper stuff so I can feed both machines with the same tooling.

Gunner

"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."

- Proverbs 22:3

Hummm..threaded inserts...sigh..now why didnt I think of that..instead of making drawbolts for each type...

Gunner

"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."

- Proverbs 22:3