DrawandDuck Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Need some recommendations for which bits to buy for the milling machine. Need bits for removing material from bottom of slide, barrel hood, frame rails, and slide cuts. Thanks Randal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Cheely Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Carbide, USA made. Anything else is junk. You need a good assortment of square and ball end mills in anything from 3/16" - 1/2". You'll see things you like and need different cutters to make it happen. The mill is the cheap end of machining. I don't want to know how much I've spend on tooling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 It depends on the usage. Some end mills get bought cheap and run hard. Some need to hold tolerances and need to be good q. We buy most of our tooling through LA Benson, which is a local dist. I have, on occasion, bought tooling from MSC-direct.com. I like a good assortment of end mills, ball mills, fly cutters, drill index and taps, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Cheely Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 A couple of places to look. www.use-enco.com www.msc-direct.com www.kbctools.com www.cuttingtoolsource.com Most of them will send you a catalog for free. There's lots of local places around me, and it's convenient if you need something 'right now'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrawandDuck Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 (edited) Anyone tried the ramped barrel frame bridge cutter from Brownells? http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/Pro...ail.aspx?p=9582 Edited February 18, 2008 by DrawandDuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Cheely Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Try a clark para cut instead. Much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrawandDuck Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 Try a clark para cut instead. Much easier. Already have the STI barrel which is wilson cut...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIIID Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 George's (EGW) cutter is a little better than the Nowlin, they both will work. The EGW is easier to use, use a good cutting oil, and a slow rpm. I get quite a bit of tooling from J&L Industrial(part of MSC). Don't buy your tooling based off of cost, the end result will show cheap cutters are not worth your extra time or money. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeoHallak Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 KBC tools is one of my favorites they always seem to have pretty good deals on carbide. leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawulf Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Carbide would be the best choice, but with proper speeds and feeds HSS will do fine also. Carbide is brittle, so be careful not drop the cutter when removing it from the collet or tool holder. Chipped carbide doesn't cut well. For endmills you will need collets or tool holders. Never use a drill chuck to hold an endmill, they have little holding area compared to collets or tool holders. Drill chucks are also not designed to take the side loads incurred from milling. Hope this helps Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Carbide Carbide Carbide My favorite is Metal Removal. The nice thing is that if you do not overheat them, they will last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Carbide likes to run fast with HP pushing it. If you have a desktop mill, HSS may be more effective in a lot of cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiles Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Carbide, USA made. Anything else is junk. Have you used any of the Japanese tools like Nachi or Vega? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKJ Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 www.dormertools.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrawandDuck Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 (edited) What sizes do you prefer (I know a variety but the ones you use most)? Collets or tool holder? 3 or 4 Flutes? Will be using to remove material from slide and frame for fitting purposes and eventually slide lightning..... Got the Mill, then had to purchase the vice, then the clamping kit, then the dial test indicatior and holder, then the edge and center finders and BITS and I am sure I have left other things out........DAMN that FREE FRAME KIT!!! Thanks for the input, Randal Edited February 22, 2008 by DrawandDuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastshooter03 Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 (edited) Get a job in a machine shop=it's easier! When you buy some EMs, make sure you get the shortest LOC you will need. I have cut STI Long Frames for a wilson/nowlin using an extra long 3/8" carbide(I think it was 3/8") coming in from the front of the frame. Or the top as I just stuck the frame in a vise vertical. Using very long EMs will require you to indicate them in to run true even in a collet holder. I've never tried the premade cutters for the ramp job so I don't know how well they work. You should be able to pick up some Atrax carbide relatively inexpensively through ENCO. Collets are generally more accuract than EM holders. Generally the more flutes to a cutter=the stronger it is. For the rail cuts on the side I like to use a 1/4" carb going very fast to get a good finish. I do this work in a VMC so you may have problems spinning smaller EMs fast enough. Especially carbide. Depending on what slide lightening you will be doing, 3/8 or 1/2" should be plenty big enough. You might want to buy a couple gauge pins that will fit into the frame rail grooves so you can indicate the correct center so the inside part of the slide rails will be centered on the frame. I haven't done that many STI frames but that's the only way I could figure to get it right assuming the slide is cut correctly. I also use gauge pins in the slide rails combined with gauge blocks to get the desired frame width. Again this probably isn't feasible for someone not in a machine shop or willing to buy gauge blocks/pins. You may also want to check the slop in your gibbs by yanking the table by one end and seeing how much it moves on an indicator. The one we bought years ago was set up very LOOSE which doesn't help things. Just remember=you can never indicate too much BEFORE you cut. Indicate everything on that frame and slide to make sure they're level and straight. Nick Edited February 22, 2008 by fastshooter03 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrawandDuck Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 (edited) Yea I know, what seemed like a good idea has Snowballed into a 2K project but bygod I will have built it myself...whether or not it will function will be determined later....I have ordered the EWG ramp cutter and will let everyone know how it performs....Right now I only have to remove .002 from bottom of slide and .0045 from each side of the frame. .003 from the hood of the barrel and end of slide for comp fit.... Again, thanks for the input.. Randal Edited February 23, 2008 by DrawandDuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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