Extra quick change tool holders for my A2Z QCTP

[swhite]

I made a few extra tool holders for my A2Z QCTP, this one has a knurling tool in it.

[Brass_Machine]

Very nice. I think I get side tracked making tools/jigs etc... Sometimes I would rather see self made tooling like this!

Eric

[swhite]

My wife is wondering when I am going to stop making tools and start making something else 

[johnny123]

  I was asked what I do down there... she tells me that I havnt made anything yet!+                    johnny

[Dean W]

Nice one, Steve.  Guess I missed this one when it first posted.
I think making my own tools is half the fun!  Making engines is the other half.  I enjoy
making parts for things that would otherwise be broken, too.  I suppose that's the 3rd half... 

Dean

[swhite]

Dean,
I guess what your saying is 3 halfs make a whole...   

[wongster]

Hi Steve,

Are you able to share with me the dimension of the dovetail end?  My measurements seem inconsistent each time.

Regards,
Wong

[swhite]

Hi Wong,
I used a 60 degree dove tail, the slot is 21mm wide, 4.84mm deep and the dove tail is 25.65mm from edge to edge when it is cut into the aluminum. I hope this helps you.

Steve

[wongster]

Thanks Steve. These are my measurements using the caliper:

Height: 5.22mm
Width of dovetail: 26.64mm
The slot: 21.06mm

What size dovetail cutter would you recommend? I've a 60 degree 1" wide. Seem a little big for this I think.

Regards,
Wong

Hi Wong,
I used a 60 degree dove tail, the slot is 21mm wide, 4.84mm deep and the dove tail is 25.65mm from edge to edge when it is cut into the aluminum. I hope this helps you.

Steve

[swhite]

The dovetail cutter is a 3/4" 60
What material are you making your tool holders out of?

Steve

[wongster]

I'm thinking of aluminum.  Any suggestion?  I've not tried working steel on my Sherline mill so far.

Regards,
Wong

[swhite]

The tool post that I have came with aluminum tool holders so I made mine out of the aluminum also. I am sure that if you wanted to make them out of steel your mill would work fine, aluminum cuts so fast that I like using it on my Taig equipment. Do you have any pictures of projects that you have made?

Steve

[wongster]

Mine is aluminum too, from A2ZCNC.

The only "project" I've done was the die holder, after some help from the folks in this forum, and the 1/2 done brass torch.  Pics attached.

Regards,
Wong

[swhite]

Looks good!
Let me now how your tool holder comes out..

Steve

[wongster]

Not too bad.  The cap of the torch was cut using the die holder.  Rather happy with the result.  There again, I've nothing I can compare with to know if it is the way it supposed to work.  Pretty new to machining.

Regards,
Wong

[swhite]

I bought my first machine last year, I enjoy building stuff, I just made a base plate to go onto my 70+ year old craftsman lathe, I can remove my compound  put that plate on and then I can attach the ball turning tool I am making, it should be nice and solid with plenty of clearance. There is no end to the things you can make with a lathe and a mill..

Steve

[wongster]

Only last year and you're building things! I bought my lathe and mill last year but have been buying things... Tools, upgrades, accessories...

Wong

[swhite]

I have made a lot of the tools I use, I have learned a bunch of things on this site and the Taig Owners Club, there are truly some amazing creations being built with small mills and lathes, you should look at Deans site, he shows you how to make some tooling and all kinds of cool things, he is on this site too.

Taig Shop Projects:
http://www.deansphotographica.com/machining/projects/projects.html

Steve

[danlb]

Thanks Steve. These are my measurements using the caliper:

Height: 5.22mm
Width of dovetail: 26.64mm
The slot: 21.06mm

What size dovetail cutter would you recommend? I've a 60 degree 1" wide. Seem a little big for this I think.

Regards,
Wong

Hi Wong,
I used a 60 degree dove tail, the slot is 21mm wide, 4.84mm deep and the dove tail is 25.65mm from edge to edge when it is cut into the aluminum. I hope this helps you.

Steve

The best way to match the dovetails is to use the 'rod' method.    You set a pair of rods in the dovetail grooves of the part you are duplicating  and measure the distance between them.   The diameter of the rod does not matter as long it hits both surfaces of the dovetail.

This works for both inside and outside dovetails.

Measuring the tripod quick change adapter so I could duplicate it.

 


The binocular adapter in aluminum.



And, of course, you can make your own holders.  These are various sizes.  Some became indexible tool holders, some for cut-off tools, some for boring bars.  It started as one long 6061 bar.  I ran a single dovetail down the length, then cut with the bandsaw.

[swhite]

Hi Danlb,
I don't want to sound dumb but how does the rod method work? I guess I am at a loss how you get the full width of the dove tail with a rod.

Thanks,

Steve

[wongster]

Let me attempt to see if I'm moving along ok.

The object is not to find full width of the base but to use this method to find how much more to cut on the new piece. The angle is the same on both and the same 2 rods were used.

I guess if we know the size of the rod and if they're identical, we could calculate the width.

Wong

[Reckless_Engineer]

Yes the to rollers is the best method i have come across. With a little trig. you can find the theoretical points of the dove tail knowing the exact distance to index across.

[mklotz]

If you go to my page (URL in sig) and download my DOVETAIL program, it will do the width calculations for you.

[Artie]

Hi guys, you are both doing really well and Im enjoying watching your progress.

Ive just done a set of tool holders for my beast out of steel. Ive seen comments on several sites with regard to getting the dovetails right and there seems to be a bit of concern.... it really is easy to get right... the primary thing is to not remove the material from the machine once its set up and one dovetail is cut. Moving it can add the risk on not getting it perfectly aligned again. Then you have to start doing the measuring using the rods, otherwise you dont.

For the purposes of a tool holder such as we are discussing you need 2 measurements... the minimal width of the dovetail and the depth... the rest will look after itself if you have the correct angle cutter...

This is mine just roughed out... the width of the smallest part of the dovetail is 42mm, the depth is 13mm (its a large QCTP) this gives me a little cleareance against the face of the tool post as can be seen later.



Cut your dovetail until you reach the inner edge on the upper surface and the outter measurement (wide edge of the angle) is 'right'.... automatically... providing your depth is correct. As you havent moved to material from the clamp, they are also parallel... slide them onto your tool post to check...

My only measurements where the depth and the width of the smallest part of the tool post. This is the result, so far, I've done 8 using this method and all fit great.



I didnt use a dovetail cutter but instead a machine called a shaper, but the process and theory is no different.

Keep up the discovery, its looking great.

Cheers Rob

[wongster]

May I have your input on this. So far I'm only able to get 1" dovetail cutter. I've not given up my search for either a 3/4" or 1/2" locally.

If the width is to be 1.049", can this 1" dovetail cutter be used?  Angle is 60 degree.

Regards,
Wong

[Artie]

Yes it can, you only need use part of the cutter face... or make slight alterations to your measurements.

In fact the limiting factor is the cutter shank touching the upper inner edge before the full face depth is cut if your cutter is smaller than the face you wish to cut....... as long as you rcutter will fit in the gap use see pictured above it can cut the dovetail.

I think you are ok Wong... take pics and show us your progress...  

Cheers Rob

[wongster]

Thanks Rob.

Given that the slot is around 21mm and the wider part of the cutter is 25.4mm, I'll be cutting into one side at around 7 to 8mm on the 1st part in order to avoid the other side of the slot.  I don't know if I can do that with my Sherline mill.  Would cutting both side of the slot in the first pass alright?

Regards,
Wong.

[Artie]

Ok, I got it... a bit slow at times. Im completely unfamiliar with the functionality of the Sherline so Im walking blind here. Does it have head tilt capacity? If it did you could use a thin end mill to cut something of an angle into one of the vertical faces, it doesnt matter what angle just enough to allow the dovetail cutter to enter the slot almost at the bottom.

If it doesnt tilt, you could clamp the work to the table tilted up on one edge.

[wongster]

I see... you are creating a wider area for the 1" dovetail cutter so that for anyone time, only one side of the slot is cut.

Thanks Rob.

Regards,
Wong

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Wong

Have a loooooooooooooook here         http://www.cnccookbook.com/MTMillDovetail.htm     would save you having to bye a dovetail cutter    ,,,,,,,,good how too ,,,,,, mmmmmmm looks like i will have to add it too the must make  list 


Cheers Rob  

[wongster]

I'm not there yet, Rob, to make my own cutter.  Some day I would.

I'm off office this Saturday as I'm scheduled for duty full day on Sunday.  Saturday will be a good time to see if I can make dovetails.  If all work well, I can make a tool holder just for my new little boring bit.... one for my DI... one for all my tools... hehehehe....

Regards,
Wong

[ksor]

Hi Wong

Have a loooooooooooooook here         http://www.cnccookbook.com/MTMillDovetail.htm     would save you having to bye a dovetail cutter    ,,,,,,,,good how too ,,,,,, mmmmmmm looks like i will have to add it too the must make  list 


Cheers Rob  

I beleave something is wrong in the geometri of this cutter - look at the front view ... the back of the inserted bit have a radius bigger that the cutting edge - right ?

So you have to choose the inserted bit very carefully so the back edge has a SMALLER radius than the cutting edge.

[Artie]

Hi Ksor, if you look further into the diagrams you see an actual photo of the cutter and it has a cutting tip installed that is tapered, which I agree with you, is not reflected in his cad drawing, which you are correct in saying would not work efficiently. The reality is much better as evidenced by teh photo.

Oh, thread back to you Steve, sorry about the hi jacking... 
Rob T

[swhite]

Rob,
I don't feel like I have been hijacked, I am learning something from all of the reply's

Steve