Dovetail mils

I have a need to cut 60º dovetails in aluminium but my mill, Arc's X0, will only handle cutters up to 6.0 mm shank diameter. Can anybody suggest where to buy suitably small cutters? I have tried the usual suspects like Arc, Chronos, J&L etc. If all else fails I will have to make a fly cutter, but being lazy I would prefer to buy something.

Cliff Coggin.

Reply to
Cliff Coggin
Loading thread data ...

If you don't mind making the dovetails in sections; you can get a big piece of hexagon bar and bolt the aluminium to this with a couple of cap screws and use an ordinary end mill. The strips can then be bolted down to make the dovetails.

A "proper" dovetail cutter seens to need a reasonably good and solid mill to use and one need to take great care that it only cuts on one side at a time.

Alan

Reply to
Alan Bain

It may not be practicable but that's a bloody ingenious solution - I like it!

!

--

Chris Edwards (in deepest Dorset) "....there *must* be an easier way!"

Reply to
Chris Edwards

I understand your idea of tilting the work on the hex bar, but a normal end mill will still cut a 90º angle. I need the 60º angle at both the top and the bottom of the cut.

Cliff.

Reply to
Cliff Coggin

My solution when I did this was to use built up construction. For the male part you make one strip with two 60 deg angles, and bolt again to a flat plate with recessed cap head bolts. Then for the female part, you make two such strips for and then bolt with the 60 degree edges suitably separated to a flat piece of plate; and it's easy to assemble because you just put the whole lot together (incl. gib strip) around the male part, clamp up with toolmakers clamps and then drill and pin.

It does away with the need to do fiddly gauging with ground steel rods and micrometers. It does have a certain built up look when finished. But it's easier than doing it "properly" especially when you don't have a mill and all the milling is being done on a totally unsuitable lathe.

Alan

Reply to
Alan Bain

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.