tractor yesterday that's been beat to shit ... the machine auto-engages the front wheel drive when the brakes are applied , and the corners are beat clean off the dogs , and the tractor place wants me to just mill the beat-up ends off so it will engage and drive . No problem ... except ... these are apparently fully-hardened pieces . I didn't figger HSS would cut it , and I was right . C5 carbide inserts do a passable job in my (home made) single flute indexable end mill , but the diamond router bits I salvaged from the last cabinet shop I worked at do the best . Too bad they're chipped on the corners . I think the indexable will do the job just fine , I'm using a CNMG321 insert with chip breaker and feeding slow with a .015-.020" depth of cut . Last pass will clean up the bottom of the cut and kiss the face , I'll use a brand new insert for that last pass . The hardest part is going to be indexing these parts on the rotary table so the cuts match and one lug doesn't end up carrying the load - and end up with offset loading on the drive/driven elements . I think I have that part figured out too , center the part on the RT/chuck assembly , center the assembly under the spindle then offset 1/2 the diameter of the cutter . Then offset it the other way to cut the opposite end of the lugs .
- posted
5 years ago