Tooling? Best place to start?

[helocat]

With our used TM-1 inbound I need to get the tool holders I will be needing. Thinking a package would be the best way to go since we have 0 holders now. (TM-1 is replacing our R8 Bridgeport) Talked with US Shop Tools last week but, they still have yet to e-mail or fax what they have. Just called this AM and the guy spent 2 min digging though his desk trying to find a "flyer" to fax me. Thinking I might look at another vender. Any suggestions? Any brand of holders to stay away from?

Thank you,

Mark

[Matt@RFR]

You are probably going to get all kinds of recommendations, and most likely all of them will be good.

When I tooled up my VF-2ss from scratch, I bought all my tool holders and pull studs from www.maritool.com When you are ready to place your order, phone it in and you'll likely be talking to Frank, who is the owner. Great product, outstanding service.

For endmills, I use Lakeshore Carbide for the most part, Harvey Tool for the small and/or long reach tools.

If you can't find something, call Lakeshore and they will help you find it, probably be able to order it for you and give you good pricing.

[HelicopterJohn]

Hi Mark,

Mat gave you some really good advise. You didn't mention whether you had the 10 position tool changer or not.

I would stay away from the packages as you usually end up getting some holders that you will most likely never use.

I bought a new 2007 HAAS TM-1P and bought the tooling package. While I got some really nice stuff from Techniks I got a few holders that I wish I could have traded back to them for something more applicable to my machine.

My most used holders are the ER16 and ER32 collet holders. I would start out with about 3 of 4 of each of those and get a set of the collets for each and double up on some of the popular sizes like .1875, .25, .375 etc. I elected to get the shortest gage length possible to increase the rigidity of the tool being held. Your needs may vary depending on the type of parts you make.

Then I would get a couple of drill chucks.

The last item I purchased was a 2" diameter Miltec 4 insert face mill. I purchased a package of the SS (Super Shear) cutters for aluminum and a package of the PS (Power Shear) cutters for steel.

Don't forget that you will need the appropriate pull studs for each tool.

Maritool is owned by a GREAT guy that will be more than willing to help you with your selection of holders.

Of course, your budget may dictate how many of each you start out with.

Just some thoughts from a novice machinist that makes parts in his garage.

Good Luck,

John

[hercules]

Another vote for Mari Tool. I got all my tooling for my TM-1 from them when it was new. I would definitely purchase from them again.

[Donkey Hotey]

I purchased a boat load of Kennametal tooling for our new machines at work. I also bought some Maritool stuff, as well as Glacern to fill in the blanks. I also have both Maritool and Glacern stuff at home. For my money, the Maritool and Glacern stuff is every bit as good as the Kennametal, if not better. The customer service was also much, much better with them. If I could do it over, Glacern and Mari would have got the whole initial sale as well.

I bought 4 drill chucks. Many will disagree and will say to buy ER collets to hold drills. I prefer drill chucks because it reduces the number of collets I need to have on-hand.

For example, I may make a part with some #10 clearance holes and tap holes as well as tapping. That means I need three ER collets in a close range of sizes.

Instead, I hold the drills with drill chucks and save the ER collets for the tap. This allows me to get by with only two sets of ER collets. Get two sets of ER16 and two sets of ER32. 2-3 of each style ER holder and you should be good to go with ERs.

Next, I'd get a 2" square shoulder face mill. I'd pass on a 3.5" facemill unless you do a lot of light facing cuts. The 2" will cover just about any facing you would be doing on a TM.

I'd get enough rigid endmill holders to cover what you think you'll use. I have 1", 3/4", 1/2", three 1/4" (one for ball, one for square and one for a 1/8" large-shank endmill), one 1/8" for engraving.

From Maritool, you can sign up for an account, charge the stuff and have it in a few days. Frank Mari has responded to questions well past hours and been very helpful. I haven't needed any help from Glacern but, their stuff was also very nice.

There, now you have another opinion to consider.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by Donkey Hotey .....There, now you have another opinion to consider.

Not really another opinion but rather a complementary opinion. Here is another:

Don't be frightened of buying more holders than you 'need'. It can be a great timesaver to have tapdrills and taps for different size threads ready and waiting, also various sized milling cutters, especially if you are doing one-offs.

[behindpropeller]

Pull Studs:

http://www.tjdavies.com/

You can get a discount when you buy 25. Made down the street from where I work.

Most of my toolholders are from Maritool.

Saw this deal recently:

http://www.ultradexusa.com/stimulus.package.pdf

I have a spare tightening fixture I would like to get off of my bench (taking space) if you are interested.

I have also bought several holders form Curtis @ latheinserts.com

A couple other things you will want for your TM-1,2,or 3 Mill:





Tim

[dougtyler]

The most usefull tool I have is my facemill.
It's a 2.5" Iscar Tang mill.
It leaves a glass smooth finish on aluminum, which is what 90 percent of my work is.
The inserts have 8 useable edges, but you have to buy a left hand cutter body to use 4 of them.

Anybody else have one of these?

[John Crawford]

Frank Mari at Maritool. Great service, great prices, and great products.

[helocat]

Very helpful guys thank you. I will look at the maritool site some more, great recommendations.

Behindpropeller: Thank you for the tip with ultra. And yup I know when the shell mill and coolant mix it will be messy. For now the TM-1 is due to limited space. Replacing my 1961 9x36 Bridgeport that just sold this AM. With mostly proto parts being cut and some tube notching, it will work great for us not being a job shop. (Production stuff goes to mfg.com if needed)

Donkey: Good points on the shell mill. You are right a 2" should cover just about anything a TM should be doing anyway. Makes since a 3"+ will just suck hp.

Helicopterjohn: Great feed back on the packages. I wondered about ending up with a number of end mill holders that would just stay stowed. I do have the 10 tool changer (only way I would get a TM). Its been 12 yrs since I last used a VF-2 on a daily basis. So its a bit fuzzy what was the biggest tool in demand. I do recall programming a .375" end mill the most since that typically (then) was the largest solid carbide tool for the least amount of $. BTW I have enjoyed your videos and photos on your web site. The helo in helocat is for Helicopter Cat. Flew .30 Raptors (99'), hung them up when kids came along then jumped back in with 450/600 Trex few years ago. My business has kept me grounded for the last year, swamped. Maybe this summer I can get some flight time in.

[KevinWilkins]

If you don't have a probe system, get a 3D Universal Sensor from Haimer: http://www.haimer-usa.com/usa/taster-universal.php

These make zeroing and measuring parts and finding edges really easy.

I have about 50 toolholders for my TM1...

[helocat]

Originally Posted by KevinWilkins If you don't have a probe system, get a 3D Universal Sensor from Haimer: http://www.haimer-usa.com/usa/taster-universal.php These make zeroing and measuring parts and finding edges really easy. I have about 50 toolholders for my TM1...

The probe system would be cool. Thank you for the link to the Haimer tool link. For now I will just go old school and use an edge finder and paper for my tool offsets. 50 tool holders! That is rack full.

Mark