Looking for cutting tool to mill surface..

[Sperstad]

Hello.
I have a Industrial Hobbies milling machine with a R8 spindle. I want to use the machine to mill the surface of cylinder heads to make them plane. Anyone who knows where I can find a cutting tool like this?

[mc-motorsports]

Full size cylinder heads? They use a face mill to cut them. Usually on a decking mill, and they just use one tool, a huge facemill with quite a few inserts, wide enough to deck a diesel block.

Tram your spindle and use a facemill atleast a bit wider than your cylinder head sealing surface. Good luck,

[Sperstad]

Yes, full size heads. I`ve looked at some facemills, but I need at least a 8" in diameter cutter. And they are very expensive. Do you think a flycutter like this would do the job? (With this one I must have very slow feed on the x-axis)

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-FLY-CUTTER-W...d=p3286.c0.m14

[mc-motorsports]

I wouldn't use that tool. Hard to explain, but basically you'll have too much tool flex and your surface won't be flat. Where the tool wipes over the combustion chambers wont be consistant with the area inbetween them.

You really need a facemill, it's actually a fairly precision operation. You also need to set and or veryify insert depth using a comparator or indicator to insure a flat surface with a consistant finish.

[Sperstad]

Okey, I understand. As i wrote earlier, the face mills are very expencive. So maby making a tool my self would be a good idea. How about a tool like this? A machinist here att home, has made a tool like this. He has one cutting bar on his tool. Don`t know how many the tool in the video have. What do you think about this cutting tool? Are similar tools for sale any place?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz5yF...eature=related

[mc-motorsports]

That is a form of a facemill, and there is no doubt that tool won't flex like the first one. Best place to look for a used one would be a surpluss supply. Or google used engine rebuilding equiptment, there are a couple of shops that specialize in selling line boring equiptment, cylinder boring machines, decking equiptment, ect. And I'm sure the used machine dealers would have a facemill that would suit your needs.

[lin_chihchan]

u can't use flycutter, it is very simple tool for boring holes. DCD is right, use home-made face cutter can't be accu. flat. R8 is small tradtional machine, it is hardly to see in Taiwan, almost none. Max. to hold 4" to 5" cutter, weight is big iusse. home-made alu. face cutter can slove weight iusse, but listen to the sound of youtobe video, can hear metal is vibrating... i have one website for u, check the indexable or welded part. www.cutting-tools.com.tw

[mc-motorsports]

In Spersads defense, quite a few engine shops exclusively use Bridgeprort milling machines with R8 spindles. I totally agree that a CAT40 or CAT50 is MUCH better suited, but it's done every day.

Nice website though. What about pricing? I make my own tooling when needed, but I find your products interesting.

[lin_chihchan]

From some industrials Asia is always chasing after US & Europe. R8 is way slow to do most of work. I guess this is the reason. Here more & more using HSK50, 63A to do high speed, light cutting & high feed.
Our tool mostly done by 4, 5 axis to have lighten weight & good chip removing. EX WORKS pricing is maybe only 1/3 compare to US from my guessing, we have metric & inches problems, don't know too much in the states. Ex: http://top17.soft-ware.com.tw/soft-w...ategory=103091 EMCF-125(5") @ 154.17, insert for alu. @ 5.9, pvd coated for steel @ 4.33, cvd coated for steel @ 4.83
Building private tool is fun, need skills. Not like nowadays, resharping end mills, drills, taps by small portable machine... =_= Losing job, but still need to sell some. It is trend though...

[mc-motorsports]

I totally agree that lack of technology inhibits productivity. But concider that most people operating the machinery at question are low production and in the case of cylinder head recondintioning, the operating cost of a bridgeport mill far exceeds the end cost of the operation at question vs the machinery and technology you speak of. Plus I believe the original poster only wanted to fix his cylinder head, as in he may recondition 5 cylinder heads in his total carrer.

BUT, since you mentioned it, I remember a few years ago my last boss made a comment that asia was not allowed to export products made with 5 axis machinery or technology, may be a built in trade law with the US, may be rumor, or maybe my boss was full of sh!t? Interested to know the truth, struck me as kind of a wierd statment, but he stuck by it.
MC

[mc-motorsports]

Plus, keep in mind that the original poster was a DIY kinda person who was trying to do as much as he can on a budget, I don't think bottom line and profit were a concideration, it was more along the line of saving money and the pride of doing your own work.

MC

[TOTALLYRC]

Originally Posted by Sperstad Hello. I have a Industrial Hobbies milling machine with a R8 spindle. I want to use the machine to mill the surface of cylinder heads to make them plane. Anyone who knows where I can find a cutting tool like this?

For what it is worth. When I had a ford escort 4cyl some years ago and the head gasket blew, the head was warped about .010" end to end and cupped about .005 across the short dimension. I milled it with a heavy duty fly cutter set at about 3" wide path. It took 3 passes to get all the way across the head but it worked and it lasted untill I junked the car a few years later. When I was done the head was flat to within .001. I was able to borrow a precision straight edge to check. It may not have been the approved method but it worked fine for me.

Mike