Holding milling cutter in the lathe

The risk is that unless they are grippped very tightly then they wil

'screw themselves into the work'. Hence the use of Clarkson autolocks where the effect is used to actually tighten the grip on the cutter Not an expert, but I guess an endmill would be less prone than a slo drill. Others will no more/better

-- Myford Mat

----------------------------------------------------------------------- Myford Matt's Profile:

If Tubal Cain does it, you know it will work. But you'll find a tendency for the cutter to pull out of the chuck. This can ruin the work as I've found on a number of occasions until I got a proper milling chuck. The effect is very noticeable in brass, if you have a normally sharpened cutter. So take care.

This same effect will tend to lift the work towards the cutter, so clamp down well and lock the carriage to the bed for each cut

You'll not be able to get a tiny cutter to go fast enough in a Myford. And it would take forever. I try and use as big a cutter as possible. So if your 12mm cut is a step on the edge of the bar, then a cutter bigger than 12 mm would be easiest. Or use a single point fly cutter. If it's a slot right accross you need a slot drill of the right size, or a smaller end mill, to attack each side separately.

A number of people - see other threads - are using ER collets sucessfully. Cutters can still pull from these, but they can be tightened much more securely than a three-jaw.

Wilfrid Underwood

Rob> Reading a post the other day, it was recommended not to hold a milling

If you have some Clarkson type threaded cutters put a nut on the end and put this in the 3 jaw with the nut hard up to the inside of the jaws. This stops it wandering out when cutting.

Dependant on the length of shank and width of jaws etc but possible on larger cutters where the cutting forces are greater.

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

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