Taig Flycutter

[5artist5]

What fly cutter do you guys use / recommend for use with your Taigs?

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[Jeff-Birt]

I use the Taig 1224ER (or 1224 for 3/4-16 spindle). Works well and is a pretty good deal for $20.00. I'm not immediatly aware of another ER-16 sized fly-cutter but I'm sure they are out there.

I would give a link to the picture of the taig 1224ER on my web-page but I have not had time to get all the accessories back up in the new shopping cart format. They are in stock though.

[Hirudin]

I have only fly cut a couple times, I used the 3/8" shanked fly cutter (part number: 1224ER) from Carter Tools.


It seemed to work fine but, like I said, I have very little experience. In fact I ordered the fly cutter at the same time as my Taig, but was too chicken to actually try it until recently. Let me tell you: it's very easy, just make light passes.

The person over at NYCCNC is also using this fly cutter and has posted a video of him using it on some aluminum...
http://www.nyccnc.com/Herbie/HERBIES..._the_TAIG.html

[5artist5]

Thanks guys, I ordered that one from Carter Tools. Can't wait to try it out!

[SherlineGuy]

Please excuse me for butting in. I just did my first flycut job in aluminum on my Sherline, I tried both the cutter type as shown in your pic, and the Sherline head with the indexable carbide insert. It was one of the most pleasurable experiences I've had with the mill so far. The chips go EVERYWHERE, I'm still picking them out of my shoes.
My Z-axis is not trammed in, and I had a problem with a double-cut as I drove the head past center of the axis across the part. The aluminum went from very rough 2-flute finish to almost a mirror!

[5artist5]

Got to try out the new fly cutter last night. Works great! I decided to run it at the slowest speed cause the higher speed wanted to do a lot of vibration.

It also became real clear that I was out of tram cause the right side (+Y side) of the cutter makes contact but the other side makes no contact at all. I thought that I read somewhere that this situation is actually desirable though?

I tried some .002" and .003 depth cuts and both seemed to work fine. The biggest difference was when i tried changing the feed the difference between 2 inches per min and 3 is huge.

[escott76]

Got to try out the new fly cutter last night. Works great! I decided to run it at the slowest speed cause the higher speed wanted to do a lot of vibration.

It also became real clear that I was out of tram cause the right side (+Y side) of the cutter makes contact but the other side makes no contact at all. I thought that I read somewhere that this situation is actually desirable though?

I tried some .002" and .003 depth cuts and both seemed to work fine. The biggest difference was when i tried changing the feed the difference between 2 inches per min and 3 is huge.

Not desireable in the Y unless you were making passes in the Y direction. Even then it's only the tiniest bit, you shouldn't have a huge difference in the two sides.

[DeusExMachina]

Not desireable in the Y unless you were making passes in the Y direction. Even then it's only the tiniest bit, you shouldn't have a huge difference in the two sides.

Agreed, I posted a thread earlier about surface finish with a flycutter...same cutter mentioned above actually... Turns out that I did too good of a job tramming the head and the tool more or less stays in contact for a full 360 degree sweep leaving a "fuzzy" finish in its wake.

Before I start fly cutting again I need to very carefully knock the column a few tenths out of alignment (thats going to painful considering the work I did to get it aligned) so that the trailing edge just barely rises above the cut surface.

[5artist5]

Well what i meant was that the out of tram makes it so that when I move the table
to the right only the trailing edge of the cutter hits the material. It is slight, and with a straight edge across the cut material you cannot detect a trough in the middle.

I will use an indicator this weekend and see how far out of tram it really is.

[surrealism]

Has anyone tried these from harbor freight? I have never seen the cutting bit in the Harbor Freight version....I wonder how easy it is to find replacement cutters.
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-piece...set-45323.html


Any insight as to how they compare with the carter tools version?

[Isplat]

Hi There,

I have the HF set. They are OK, seem to work. I bought them before the 1224ER was available.

I think I would buy the 1224ER now. It looks like it uses more standard 1/4" HSS bits vs. the HF.

I don't use the smaller ones out of the HF set that much.

Ian

[yann]

Agreed, I posted a thread earlier about surface finish with a flycutter...same cutter mentioned above actually... Turns out that I did too good of a job tramming the head and the tool more or less stays in contact for a full 360 degree sweep leaving a "fuzzy" finish in its wake.

Before I start fly cutting again I need to very carefully knock the column a few tenths out of alignment (thats going to painful considering the work I did to get it aligned) so that the trailing edge just barely rises above the cut surface.

I think I'm having the same problem. Please, could somebody tell me if it's the case or something else. I was thinking it was more of a tool geometry problem. Am I using it the correct way?

Taig cnc mill with 3/8" shanked fly cutter (part number: 1224ER)
The cutter is the one included : right hand cutting
Material : aluminum 6061-T6
I set the tool at about 2" wide. My piece of stock is 1.5" wide
0.005" deep single pass [EDITED 0.005" single pass, not 0.05"]
1100 rpm (lowest)
10 in/min

Thanks for the help


On the picture : I stopped in the middle of a pass (going left to right) to show you the difference, but it not as clear as when it happened the first time. The right side on the picture is the correct finished one (but we can still see marks from the first try). It was all good until the tool started "dragging" just enough to mess up the finish. We can see chips from the tool going forward and the dusty stuff produced by the tool "dragging". We can also see the burr created on the sides by the "drag".

[rlockwood]

I think I'm having the same problem. Please, could somebody tell me if it's the case or something else. I was thinking it was more of a tool geometry problem. Am I using it the correct way?

Taig cnc mill with 3/8" shanked fly cutter (part number: 1224ER)
The cutter is the one included : right hand cutting
Material : aluminum 6061-T6
I set the tool at about 2" wide. My piece of stock is 1.5" wide
0.05" deep single pass
1100 rpm (lowest)
10 in/min

Thanks for the help


On the picture : I stopped in the middle of a pass (going left to right) to show you the difference, but it not as clear as when it happened the first time. The right side on the picture is the correct finished one (but we can still see marks from the first try). It was all good until the tool started "dragging" just enough to mess up the finish. We can see chips from the tool going forward and the dusty stuff produced by the tool "dragging". We can also see the burr created on the sides by the "drag".

Try taking the pass in the opposite direction. If you're out of tram, you will want the leading edge to touch, and the trailing edge to have clearance. It appears as though the trailing edge of the cutter didnt have clearance on that pass, so cutting in the opposite direction will likely yield better results.

A fly cutter that only makes single point contact with the cutting surface typically doesn't make for a good finish either, its better to have a "wiper flat" or a radius. That way, the cut passes blend from one another more smoothly.

0.050" is probably a bit much on a taig as well, but perhaps you meant .005"?

[yann]

Try taking the pass in the opposite direction. If you're out of tram, you will want the leading edge to touch, and the trailing edge to have clearance. It appears as though the trailing edge of the cutter didnt have clearance on that pass, so cutting in the opposite direction will likely yield better results.

A fly cutter that only makes single point contact with the cutting surface typically doesn't make for a good finish either, its better to have a "wiper flat" or a radius. That way, the cut passes blend from one another more smoothly.

0.050" is probably a bit much on a taig as well, but perhaps you meant .005"?

Thank you very much for this very useful info. I tried the opposite direction, it was slightly better, but still no clearance on the trailing edge.
Yes, I meant 0.005", not 0.05", sorry.
I had a round nose tool bit I never used and tried it : MUCH better. I don't get why they're selling the fly cutter with the "wrong" bit. Thanks again for the help, I will be trying new geometries I have seen around. Wish I could grind my tooling... next step.

This the tool I'm talking about :


Here is the result of that same surface with round nose bit. I didn't took a picture but it was even better on the next pass on the other face of this stock.

[gmfoster]

They plan on you grinding the bit. Usually you grind then as an "AL" grind for use in a fly cutter ..

[yann]

They plan on you grinding the bit. Usually you grind then as an "AL" grind for use in a fly cutter ..

Didn't knew that. Thanks for the tip.

[CS900]

I just did some flycutting on my little taig today as well. I use a crappy harbor freight fly cutter with a resharpened blade.

Less than ideal fixturing:


results: right .020 DOC @ 20IPM & 4000RPM, left .020 DOC @ 3IPM & 4000RPM


suffice to say i'm not running the stock motor anymore

[Menacer]

I played with this for a wile..... all in all.. my guess... and that's all it is.. Is that the tilting column and ER16 spindle have week links in the system so don't expect more than Yann is getting...

But! what I did find out is I could get a much cleaner\merrier finish with using a small end mill (3/8) that rotates over and over on the X & Y (with small step overs...) this cleans up the machine marks and will give you a merrier finish but takes a CAM system and will take more time to finish than a 1 pass fly cutter.