Spindle Key

[syscore]

My Superfly cutter grabbed my piece up in the vise and cut too deeply, bringing the spindle to an abrupt stop. It seems that the tang that fits the key slot on the R8 arbor is bent, and It is hard to get the R8 arbor into and out of the spindle. But the arbor itself seems fine as is the Superfly, but you can tell that the TTS holder of the Superfly spun a little bit (but not the arbor). Is there an easy way to fix the tang? Maybe a little filing?

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[syscore]

A little filing fixed it good as new. The R8 adapter slides in and tightens with just fingers again and tools pop out with just a half turn of the wrench. Right after the Superfly crash, I had to tap (with the little brass hammer/wrench) the drawbar all the way down to the end to get the adapter out. I am going to email Tormach tomorrow and see if they have any input on whether I am tightening the drawbar too tight or too lose. Surely someone else have had issues with the tang before? I guess I also need to be extra careful with the situations I use the fly cutter in. If it gets a chance, that insert will grab the part up to it, which can be because the material is thin, or because of the way it is held down.

[GLCarlson]

Surely someone else have had issues with the tang before? ...

See my thread on replacing the location pin on the 1100 spindle. Problems appear to be very rare. It's a straightforward replacement but a pain, as one must pull the lower bearings. My original was a bit short, and eventually the R8 collet simply sheared it off flush- it was concave on top. You will probably face that same issue in a few months, perhaps longer. Depending on how your machine is set up, that may not be a problem. With a manual drawbar, the pin isn't absolutely necessary. With a PDB, it really seems to be; it prevents the collet from turning on the drawbar- at least, that's what happened to me.

[syscore]

Thanks for your detailed thread! You are right about it not being hardened. It took only a few minutes with a file and most of that was due to being careful to make sure I was on the pin only. And it was deformed enough to keep the R8 collet from easily coming out for its full travel. I am a bit surprised that the PDB seems to be that much stronger than the manual DB. But it makes sense that the cause was that it might not have been tight enough, even though I thought I tightened it quite a bit. I am going to get hold of a torque wrench and see if I am tightening it as much as the spec calls for, which I think I certainly am, if not a bit more. It was a depressing moment at first, but after I calmed down and thought about its function I realized it had more to do with keeping the R8 collet from rotating when tightening the drawbar, than it did with holding it against a work load. It is simply too small for the later. Fortunately, the fix (when I finally decided to do something) was easy and quick. I will keep your thread handy for when I have to replace it.

[syscore]

Quick update. I was aware of the Tormach white paper on tool holding (linked below) before I even bought the mill, and I thought I was tightening the draw bar enough (and I was), but what I didn't give enough due to was lubricating the friction points. After cleaning and then lubricating everything that should be lubricated, I haven't had any tool holding issues again. My advice to new users (which I still am) is to pay attention to tool holding. I am used to the R8 in a mini mill I had, but the 1100 has more horsepower, and to get maximum holding power in the collet, you definitely need to follow the instructions in the white paper regarding lubrication. At least when using the manual draw bar.

Some other comments...

The limit switches seem to be more accurate than I expected. Accurate enough to start from actually, although I always touch off. Most everything I do fits in a vise (or pair of vises) with a stop, and I only have to touch off X and Y once at the beginning. Do some users rely on the limit switches?

I really like the compression-tension tapping head. It works as smooth as in the tormach video. I have been doing 1/4-20 holes in aluminum and steel and not a single issue. I also have been tapping in high at 250 RPM (would rather not have to change the belt). I got the kit because I like to have the other collets available if I need one, but if you know exactly what taps you are going to be using, you can just get the head and that collet.

I have been using the fly cutter a lot with aluminum and it leaves a very nice finish. I tried it on steel though (with a steel insert) and got a lot of chatter and roughness, I am still working on the recipe for that I guess.

The boring head works as well as on the video and the finish is excellent (in aluminum). I managed to get some very stable 2.5" holes, 2" deep, but I still need to work on hitting an exact dimension. I was within a couple thou, but on my manual lathe I am used to tenths. The mill though has the edge on finish.

The keyless drill chucks are worthless. The keyed chucks are fine. Probably will start acquiring collets and TTS holders for my production drill sizes.

When I got the mill I bought a bunch of ER-32 tool holders and collets. After seeing how big they are, I had buyer's remorse and wished I had gotten the ER-20 size. However, I have grown used to them and kind of like the "extra". I am still going to get some ER-20 holders, but for the stuff I am doing, I probably did the right thing getting the ER-32 holders.

Next project is an enclosure. Even just PVC pipe and some plastic sheet will do wonders. The superfly can really throw chips far, and in your clothes, hair, etc. Also, the flood coolant is quite messy. I like the flood coolant (I do a lot of pockets) and will probably up the pressure and add a second nozzle, but I also want the fog buster as well. When you add the fog buster, is this what you need to allow controlling both flood and mist using g-code?

https://www.tormach.com/store/index....show&ref=33043

Here is the tool holding white paper ...

https://www.tormach.com/uploads/163/...1010A-pdf.html

Overall, except for the location key thing, it has been going pretty smooth and I am starting to make stuff I am keeping.