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Chronos Little Hogger sets questions

Hi,

I've recently ordered a set of 3 of the Chronos Little Hogger insert type end mills shown at and wondered if anyone here has used them and what they think ?

I see they have 3 different types of inserts, square ones, round ones and triangular ones. I guess the round ones are intended to be used for profiling and corner radiussing etc, but can anyone tell me the practical differences between using the square inserts vs the triangular ones ? I see the square inserts are mounted so they have a point facing down instead of an edge so they also could be used for corner chamfering, but is that the intent ?

Also, the blurb on Chronos's site says they can be used at up to 5 times HSS speeds, would anyone care to guess a starting point for machining cast iron on a VMC for me ? Also, do the normal rules about cut not exceeding 1/3rd the width and depth apply to these as to a normal end mill ?

Thanks,

Mike

Reply to
Mike
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I bought a set for use on my X2 Mill.

I tend to use the round profile for "hogging" primarily because I get a high number of cutting faces by rotation of the insert. I feel that you would need a lot of power and rigidity to use it for profiling.

The Triangular profile has been useful when hogging out an L shape. I tend to cut about .5mm x 1/2 the width of the cutter. Primarily due to my lack of power and the belt drive.

The Square tipped cutter I have never yet used. Not needed 45 deg chamfers on anything yet. The narrow width between the tips made me feel it was pointless for flat hogging but maybe I should give it a try. Less width of cut but possible greater depth and with my high speeds a more appropriate sfpm.

Honestly not sure if they were a good buy or not but my power and rigidity are far less than you.

Ensure that you have an additional Torx driver. The original snapped off the first time I used it.

IMHO the tools are best used hard in the Quill. I am MT3 so I use a

3/4 MT3 collet. You may be R8. I would not use in an ER32 collet.

WRT cast iron I have no experience, all of mine has been gauge plate, M/S and Ally. I would expect they shoud be good. Depth of cut - just keep playing with it

I would love to hear your opinion of the VMC. I fancy a bigger machine and a Bridgeport or similar is too big for my shop. The X2 has been good to get me back into machining but some sort of knee mill would be far less frustrating.

Best of luck

Richard

Reply to
Richard Edwards

Thanks for the tips I will have a play. I take your point about the ER32 collets but that's all I've got that's suitable atm so will need to try them with that. If there's a problem I will find a 3/4 inch R8 sidelock toolholder on eBay.

The VMC was the biggest mill I could fit into the space in my tiny shed but I think the Major or Super Major geared head machines would be preferable. The VMC has several shortcomings : the lowest speed is too high at around 160 rpm, the maximum head to table distance is too low at 13 inches and the table width is too narrow at 6 inches (a bit too small to fit a 6inch rotary table with comfort - although it can be done it's far from elegant). Apart from that it's OK but if I had the room and an extra =A3500 I'd definitely spring for the Super Major if I was buying again.

Hth,

Mike

Reply to
Mike

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