Problem- TRYING TO SLOT ON SL -20 HAAS WITHOUT LIVE TOOLING

[KENWILD1]

I HAVE A HAAS SL 20 LATHE AND IM TRYING TO FIND A TOOL OR A WAY TO CUT A SLOT IN 303 STAINLESS WITH OUT LIVE TOOLING.
I DON'T KNOW IF THEY EVEN MAKE A TOOL TO DO THIS
I HAVE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER THE INTERNET TO SEE IF THEY DESIGN A TOOL FOR THIS BUT HAVING NO LUCK
THIS PART IS 1/2" DIA WITH 1/4-20 THREADS ON THE BACK AND A .032 SLOT ON THE FACE AND 1" LONG.
IF ANYBODY KNOWS OF A COMPANY DOING THIS OR ONE THAT SELLS THE TOOLING FOR THIS APP. I WOULD BE MUCH APPERICATED FOR THE INFO

[Perfect Circle]

I have in the past mounted a Heavy duty die grinder in the turret.... just to see if it was possible. It is, but you are limited on what you can do with it. You could try that but cutting stainless and such a small dia. .......Well I guess you never know until you try. Like I said it worked for what I needed to do, but I was cutting Aluminum.
Good Luck~!

[Delw]

I've done it on other machines.

these things are a must in order to do it

1. you have to lock the spindle, ( make a air clamp simple and easy)
2. the tool you use cant move in the "Y" direction so you must have the exact size tool.



One brass alum and plastic you can use a cobalt tool bit and grind it to fit then broach it so to speak.
303 ss worked ok this way but it tends to chip and gall more)
there are companies who sell air spindles that you cn put small endmills in, but then again if you have a tight tol. your kinda screwed and the air hose and stuff get in the way.
the fake broaching method is by far the fastest and best, unless you have gang tooling( not turret type) then you can use air spindles.

Delw

[fizzissist]

I was going to suggest too that locking up the spindle, then using a custom ground, single-point "broaching" tool would work, programming it to take a series of progressively deeper cuts .... I've done similar things before with good success.

You gave me an idea with the air spindles...I wonder if you could route the coolant through to an air tool mounted in a custom toolholder?

I'd honestly be surprised if an air tool would run with coolant...without blowing the seals, and oh, what a mess..... but.... if it did?? I've never tried it.

There's a great opportunity for someone to capitalize on a pseudo-live tool for 2-axis lathes, coming up with an air tool/die grinder that would be capable of running off of coolant at typical pressures.

( I don't think I'm up to sacrificing my Chicago-Pneumatic as a test case for the cause...)

[Delw]

Originally Posted by fizzissist I was going to suggest too that locking up the spindle, then using a custom ground, single-point "broaching" tool would work, programming it to take a series of progressively deeper cuts .... I've done similar things before with good success. You gave me an idea with the air spindles...I wonder if you could route the coolant through to an air tool mounted in a custom toolholder? I'd honestly be surprised if an air tool would run with coolant...without blowing the seals, and oh, what a mess..... but.... if it did?? I've never tried it. There's a great opportunity for someone to capitalize on a pseudo-live tool for 2-axis lathes, coming up with an air tool/die grinder that would be capable of running off of coolant at typical pressures. ( I don't think I'm up to sacrificing my Chicago-Pneumatic as a test case for the cause...)

If you had enough pressure it should work, my die grinder works fine with water , Had one line loaed with it years ago on the other side of the shop hit the die grinder and it was like a firehose but worked fine LOL

[engine tech art]

You can use a m19 and a p for the degress you want to lock the spindle.
It will hold with some force but it will not be locked.