# Quick Change Tool Holder as milling fixture



## cfellows (Nov 23, 2007)

Here's a quick and easy fixture for holding pieces to mill the edge.  Here you can see I'm getting ready to mill the side of a connecting rod.  The piece need to be mounted at a slight angle to get the right taper.  I clamped the connecting rod into one of my quick change tool holders, using a piece of 1/8" square rod to keep the clamping screws from marring the piece.  The tool holder is then clamped into the milling vice as shown.







Chuck


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## mklotz (Nov 23, 2007)

Chuck,

Ultimately, holding your endmill in a drill chuck is going to come back and bite you.

A conventional drill has a soft tang so the chuck jaws can 'bite' into it and get a grip.
Endmills are hardened throughout and a drill chuck can't grip them firmly enough to keep the endmill from pulling out if you take a serious cut.  Plus there is the problem of chuck runout with which to deal.

Do yourself a favor and get some endmill holders.  They're not terribly expensive and you probably only need to buy two sizes, 3/8 and 1/2" to fit most of your milling cutters.  A collet system will work as well (and be otherwise useful) but that's a bit more money.


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## rake60 (Nov 23, 2007)

I've had a few end mills suck out of a drill chuck myself.
Never to dangerous results, but to a few parts being tossed into the 
"I'll be able to use that for something else" box.

The fixture idea is a Great One!

Rick


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## cfellows (Nov 24, 2007)

Yeah, I have a couple of endmill holders, but unfortunately, don't have a 1/2" size, which is the size end mill I have in the chuck.  Sometimes I just get lazy and use the drill chuck instead of going to the trouble of changing to the proper tooling.  Doesn't seem to be much of a problem with aluminum as long as I don't take too big a bite.  Fortunately, the runnout on my drill chuck is pretty minimal.

Chuck


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