I need to cut/notch out a channel on this saddle quite a bit, to fit a large ballnut -- probably about 6" long and about 3.5" wide. The material is about 3/8" to 1/2" thick. The second photo gives a better idea of the thickness of the material.

Will an angle grinder do the job? Or is there some type of endmill or grinding bit that I can mount on the spindle so I can program the mill to go back and forth to cut itself. I don't care if it takes the whole day, but it would feel good to know that the mill is working it's price off :)

Thanks,
-Neil.

http://www.narwani.net/neil/mech/mill/leadscrews/Mill_Acme_14_Y_Front_Saddle.jpg

http://www.narwani.net/neil/mech/mill/leadscrews/Mill_Acme_17_Y_Rear.jpg

an angle grinder could do the job but cover as much as possible the expose part of the mill as the fine dust it will create is really bad for the dove tail
as for using a mill no the mill wont be able to mill it self as, unless the head of your mill is able to do back and forth movement and sideway movement, normaly its the table that moves and not the head

if you use a grinder go slow and let it cool down from time to time so that it wont affect the metal structure

you can also drill a bunch of hole along the place you want to get rid of and then finish with the grinder

Excellent. I'm actually re-thinking the amount I want/need to cut, and thinking it I move the ballscrew about 1/2" lower, then I would only have to clear the flange, so my cut would be perhaps 1" to 2" long, rather than 6". I would just make the appropriate flange mount differently.

...
as for using a mill no the mill wont be able to mill it self as, unless the head of your mill is able to do back and forth movement and sideway movement, normaly its the table that moves and not the head
...


Oh yeah -- doh! :)

Perhaps I could mount the angle grinder on the side of the table...? But seriously, it would take me longer to engineer a solid mount, and I would need to remove the table for clearance anyway.


...
you can also drill a bunch of hole along the place you want to get rid of and then finish with the grinder

Good idea. Happy I asked here.

Cheers,
-Neil.

Hi Neil,

Why not take the head off the column and clamp it to the table so it overhangs the side? Use the quill for the Z, and use a long endmill so you can keep it close to the edge of the table without the quill hitting it...

Best regards,

Jason

Jason,

That seems to simple, could that really work?

PDB

could work but i think it look to simple and could in the end make the whole endeavour more complicated

Couple reasons I can think of -- (1) the head is freakin' heavy! It took myself plus 2 friends, a couple car jacks and a bunch of 2x4 wood pieces to get the thing mounted when I moved. And (2) I need to remove the table for clearance -- that first photo is with the table all the way up the Y axis, and you can just barely make out the stock "notch" near the table.

BTW, this saddle/base should be hardened, right? Wouldn't an endmill have a hard time cutting this?

no it should be allright its cast

I concur with ataxy.
The cast iron cuts really easy.
I cut my saddle on my cnc router with a 3/16" endmill and my Porter Cable Wood Router.
Turned out real nice.

-

Andy

If you can lower the ball screw and cut as little as possible I think you will be better off. The reason I say this is because of stress in the metal. It might try to move on you and cause your dovetail surfaces to be off a little after a lot of machining (think of the saddle trying to curl after taking out a bunch of metal). Chances are it might not, but the more metal you take out the more chance it has of doing so.



Jess