Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
Don't hold it in the collet. Hold it in the vise jaws.
You can buy GOOD PARTS or you can buy CHEAP PARTS, but you can't buy GOOD CHEAP PARTS.
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
I'm pretty sure your Tormach will cut round profiles and hex pockets, so yes you can do it all on the mill. The adapter only needs to be about 3/4 inch long. I do a lot of ''lathe'' work on the mill just because I'm too lazy to turn cranks. I would rather program than turn cranks, besides it's fun to watch the mill generate shapes.Originally Posted by icecats
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
So, I normally use TTS so I have this collet. Are you proposing that I get a piece of round stock that will fit in this collet (3/4", I think), mill out a hex pocket, and then slit the stock in half? Just trying to wrap my head around this.
Thanks
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
You could start with round stock, or just use a piece of scrap 3/4 inch plate and profile the OD. Pocket the hex first. Drill the points of the hex with about a 0.125 drill, that will make sure you have clearance for the points.
something like this
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
Ok, thanks for all of the help. I will give it a try. Should the collet be steel or will aluminum work?You could start with round stock, or just use a piece of scrap 3/4 inch plate and profile the OD. Pocket the hex first. Drill the points of the hex with about a 0.125 drill, that will make sure you have clearance for the points.
something like this
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
Aluminum will work fine for temporary use. Should be good for many parts.
If you start with round stock, use larger than the finish size and profile the OD, that will insure that the hex is on the center of the OD.
To hold round stock in the vice, make soft jaws out of aluminum or soft steel and pocket a round pocket or V-notch in the jaws.
Or just use some MDF for a temporary fixture like this.
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
Oh that's funny. I would have never thought of doing it that way.That's easy! Just weld an R8 shank to the vise!
Regards,
Ray L.
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
I just stumbled on this thread so please excuse if this has been proposed previously but the 1/2" keyed chuck that came with your TTS operator set will accept a 1/2 hex shank.
RJ
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
Why do you need to hold hex in spindle ? More common to put tools in spindle lol. Easy to hold hex stock in a r8 collet and have your way with it!!!! I could not imagine anything i could not make just loading a chunk of hex into a collet and block and put in vise or 4th axis. Combined with sprut cam, would not be simple but a 1/2 dia titanium jet turbo shaft complete with tiny air cooled fins could be done or a matched set of roots blower compression shafts for a 1/4 scale blower on a 1/4" scale v12 engine. quick look around on the net I see amazing work done these days
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
One reason would be using the 770 as a vertical CNC lathe. I have several tools which have hex shanks.Why do you need to hold hex in spindle ? More common to put tools in spindle lol
What the OP's intent what, I don't know. He just asked how would he mount a 1/2" hex in the 770 spindle. Given his tool set, he already has his solution at hand.
Not everyone has a 4th axis for their Tormach. The OP hadn't mentioned having a set of R8 collets. He does have the keyed chuck.
RJ
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
Using the mill as a lathe works great. I have a 4" 3 jaw chuck with an R8 shank for things I cannot hold in a collet. I also have a couple of machinable R8 emergency collets for odd shaped things. Using a drill chuck with jacob's taper is not recommended! It doesn't take much of a cut to pull it off the taper.
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
Good point about the Jacobs taper. My first mill had only that option for tool holding. I finally put some super glue on the taper. Recently, I tried removing the adapter and no amount of mechanical force would break it. I had to resort to heat to remove it.
Before too long, I invested in a full set of R8 collets and seldom used the chuck after that. Aside from the issue of losing the chuck, it had too much runout to suit me and it took up too much of my valuable z travel. I use the chucks primarily for drilling on the 770. milling is done with the TTS/ER collets or R8 collets or end mill holders if the shanks won't fit the ER collets.
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
Your Right!
I would need a very good reason to use that method so I asked! Just wanted to understand. I see Keen and others setup nice spindle / lathe and tool block combos. I always wanted to try this and see how much sprutcam code editing was required for small lathed parts. Using lathe ops on some small round parts that I make would be far more accurate then my mill interpolating.
Re: How to hold 1/2" hex shaft
I use sprutcam7 for my vertical lathe projects. I have to do a little editing to the code after posting, reverse the sign of all the X values. Easily done in a text editor with the find and replace feature and a little bit of creativity.
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