Originally Posted by
handlewanker
Hi....are you thinking of holding the work piece vertically in the spindle?......I think a 4th axis adapted would give better results for the odd occasion, possibly driven by a separate motor.
If you wanted to go the spindle path you'd need to mount a guide support on the table to prevent the shaft from deflecting etc.
A bracket held in the vice with 2 ball races to touch the shank as it moved down would give support to a tool mounted on a block on the opposite side.
You'd have to adjust the pressure of the ball races against the tool shank as it was cut away by moving the table etc and move the tool for the cut depth in the block separately.
It would act something like a lathe's moving steady rest on it's side, but actually more like a roller box tool as used in a capstan lathe for turning slender spindles etc.
If you had an old lathe compound slide bolted to the table that would make the tool adjusting simple, maybe the answer to turning in the mill.
Depending on the amount of shank stick out from the collet in the spindle you might not need the ball races if the cutes were small.....a ratio of 4D would be OK unsupported......the final cut is light anyway.
LOL.....how about bolting an angle grinder to the table and grind it to get through the case hardening?
Ian.