using a milling machine to turn round parts

JeridJohnson

JeridJohnson

Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
376
I occasionally have the need to turn round items when fabricating parts. Can I use my milling machine to turn the item with a stationary cutter chuck in the vice? Has anybody had success in doing this?

If so, what angle bevel do I need on the cutter and what temper or hardness should I be looking at with something like a 01 tool steel?

Turned materials would include non-ferrous metals and wrought iron.
 
Its not so much the angle its that the cutter has to be centered on the piece in your spindle. You will be using carbide cutter bits and annealed is best condition. Remember you are taking off HALF the diameter on a cut. Go slow and I can't over emphasize the centering of your bit.
 
good question, i have wondered the same thing. kind of like a vertical lathe. i have done somthing similar with a file clamped in the cross table vise and round stock in the chuck to make pommel nuts with two diameters. it was sucessful, but i dont know if it is safe.
 
Busto said:
Its not so much the angle its that the cutter has to be centered on the piece in your spindle. You will be using carbide cutter bits and annealed is best condition. Remember you are taking off HALF the diameter on a cut. Go slow and I can't over emphasize the centering of your bit.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I understand the half diameter comment. wouldn't i be making consecutive cuts shaving off a little at a time until I reached my desired diameter and length?
 
Ok...once you touch up with the cutting tool to the material and dial in the amount to take off....simple math....you want to go from .150 to .140 you need to dial in .005 and that will give you the .010 off the full circumference of the stock. A mill is different from a lathe depending of if its compensated or uncompensated. Hope that makes sense?!
 
Cool....Ok once you center your cutter to the material lock the "Y" axis and cut using the "X" axis. Try to go slow and leave a couple thousandths at the end for fine finishing Good Luck Jerid

Mike
 
did some Google searches and this is done quite often by folks who don't have a lathe. I guess what I still need to figure out is what a home made cutter would look like. I have plenty of o1 that I could harden. all I really need to be able to do is make irregular stock round and perhaps be able to cut a step.
 
this is what I had envisioned. mocked it up with some annealed o1 and a 1/4" aluminum rod. turned the rod down a bit and left a shoulder. this is all I really need to achieve.
 
oops... here is the pic

33b3086aa8ccb02e5bfef035443ae542.jpg
 
It might work, even better with an "AR" tool bit. I think you will find turning small pins produces a slight taper rather than a straight pin due to the deflection at the end. Really sharp cutters help.
 
Jerid, come by my work and talk to Jerry and you could probably leave with some free tooling as well.
 
ok. a little update on my learning adventure.

I got hooked up with a carbide tipped cutter from a neighbor.

one of the parts I've been interested in making is a pommel nut from old wrought iron.

so I drilled and taped a chunk of wrought iron. i then ground the iron as round as i could. I left the tap in the iron and chucked it up in my milling machine using the tap as the shank. I was able to cut the iron down to .5in

42a5f29efba3ca6c0be1e7dd6d50bf6e.jpg


I was then able to put the iron directly in my 1/2" collet and finish the operation.

d2705378b292d192578361fed73c6f6e.jpg


I'm pretty stoked on being able to accomplish this with my existing tools.

ad6dd21e20ad945a78842b08b645e3f5.jpg


Here is a pic showing the wrought iron stock.

0b40f43d0b10d6c89f5d2d98a95db66d.jpg


Cheers.
 
Next time I'd not turn it on the tap, try cutting the dead off a screw or something.


The possibility of snapping the tap is high.
 
good point Count. I was eager to give it a try and only had one short 12-24 screw in my junk hardware bucket.
 
Nice start and looks like you are getting a nice finish on the part with that carbide bit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top