Vice Selection for X3 CNC

[apriorius]

Originally Posted by HimyKabibble Do yourself a favor, order some Putnam endmills, and save that 20 piece set for when you're doing something you don't care about. Good endmills are MORE than worth the additional cost. Most of the cheap Chinese ones are just crap, and will convince you milling is MUCH harder than it really is. Regards, Ray L.

I can second that...cheaping out on tooling doesn't save you a dime when you end up wasting material. End mills, drill bits, saw blades...I always buy the best I can find. Especially drill bits...those 181pc import sets aren't worth the shipping it takes to deliver them to your door. I don't have a brand I favor, I just make sure it is made in the USA.

For aluminum I like bright finish HSS - seems to work well for me on the X2. You can do a hell of a lot with a 1/4, 3/16 and 1/2" endmills. Buy a few quality ones and add more as needed.

[escott76]

Originally Posted by caleb105 Well, I went ahead and ordered one of those 5" Enco vises also. We'll see what the accuracy is. It should be good enough to start with (i.e. machine my CNC parts). Well I was at it, I ordered the 20 endmill set with TiN coating, set of 10 thin parallels, and the 11 piece Collet set. Total = $200.84 with free shipping. I did end up ordering SOME of the stuff from LMS that would have been in the X3 kit. I picked up the Clamping kit (7/16") for $40, an edge finder, dial indicator, magnetic base, vise clamping kit, micrometer, 1-2-3 blocks. Total with shipping = $203.11 ....I shudder to think what the shipping WOULD have been on that vise! So.....will these endmills work for Al? Do I need to keep ferrous endmills away from non-ferrous ones? I know that 2 flute is better for Al. Damn....who knew this hobby would be so expensive! I've burned through about $2200 in the past 2 weeks! -Caleb105-

Personally I've found TiN coated endmills to be a bad idea for aluminum. I always get a lot of chip welding. I'd second the recommendation on getting good endmills, as they certainly are worth it. HSS is fine, especially for aluminum, no coating needed. There is a lot of hype around different tool treatments and everyones "secret recipe". True advantages (if any) for these tools come at much higher speed/feed/production rates on bigger, more rigid machines. Learn to make uncoated HSS work, then move on IF you need to.

[HimyKabibble]

Originally Posted by escott76 Personally I've found TiN coated endmills to be a bad idea for aluminum. I always get a lot of chip welding. I'd second the recommendation on getting good endmills, as they certainly are worth it. HSS is fine, especially for aluminum, no coating needed. There is a lot of hype around different tool treatments and everyones "secret recipe". True advantages (if any) for these tools come at much higher speed/feed/production rates on bigger, more rigid machines. Learn to make uncoated HSS work, then move on IF you need to.

My experience with TiN and TiAlN coated tools on aluminum is the coating wear through in the first hour of use, and for the next few weeks, you're effectively using a plain HSS tool. I'll buy them if the price is good, but won't pay extra for them. On a small machine like an X2, the lack of rigidity will kill the tools long before they'd die on a larger, stiffer machine, so coatings to extend life are a waste of money. Since I got a knee mill, my tools last almost forever (well, except when I run them at 150 IPM into a clamp or vise. They don't seem to like that very much....).

Regards,
Ray L.

[caleb105]

Thanks for all the great info guys!

So....my first projects will be the motor mounts & ballnut blocks for my CNC conversion. Do I need special "Aluminum" end mills, or can I just use a regular 2-flute end mill?

Thanks!

-Caleb105-

[HimyKabibble]

Originally Posted by caleb105 Thanks for all the great info guys! So....my first projects will be the motor mounts & ballnut blocks for my CNC conversion. Do I need special "Aluminum" end mills, or can I just use a regular 2-flute end mill? Thanks! -Caleb105-

On a small machine, any decent 2-flute will work just fine. The special aluminum cutting endmills are only of value on much more powerful machines. Do yourself a favor and spend the money for some *good* endmills - they are MORE than worth the difference in cost. The Putnam and Greenfield brands (they're the same company) sold by Enco and MSC are excellent for the money. On sale, as they are almost weekly these days, they're a steal.

Regards,
Ray L.

[caleb105]

Edited by Caleb105 to help this thread remain on the topic of Vises. ;-)

[pzzamakr1980]

If you luck out on ebay, kurt did make a 5in vise that was just as nice as their 6" brethren, just smaller. Also, the 6in vise made by parlec, while huge, will work on the x3. Accupro's 6in will too.

A note on endmills: Buy good quality. Also, 3 flute, rather than two, leaves a beautiful finish and plunges a bit nicer than 2 flute on the x3.

[pzzamakr1980]

FYI, there is a buy it now for the 5in D-50 kurt vise on ebay for 150.00.

P.S. I'm not the seller.

[sansbury]

If you're just getting started the only difference between good endmills and Chinese cheapies is how far into your table/vise/clamps they get before the motor stalls. If you're new to CNC, you probably have a lot of crashes in your future, might as well do them with $4 mills. Nothing more fun than popping in your brand new $30 kryptonite-coated MegaUltraHyperMill for the very first time and watching the machine send it straight into something hard and rigid on the very first rapid.

That said, once your g-code is known clean, the good tools really make a difference. The sets are a waste though. Get a few each of the sizes you'll use a lot of like 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2".