# Horizontal Milling Attachment



## cfellows (Apr 24, 2014)

Waiting on parts before I can continue on my outstanding projects, so what do I do??? I ordered some more parts for yet another project!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321195442688?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 In their March 1995 issue, Home Shop Machinist featured a 2-part article by Frank McClean on building a horizontal milling attachment for his mill / drill.  Using bevel gears like those in the article would be pretty expensive, probably topping $60 or more if ordered from some place like Stock Drive Products.  However, there are a myriad of bevel gear sets available on Ebay in many different sizes and shapes as replacements for angle grinders and hammer drills.  So, if everything pans out, I'm going to give it a shot.  I doubt it will handle heavy duty milling, but it should drive slitting saws and involute gear cutters with no problem.  

 Stay tuned...

Chuck


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## MachineTom (Apr 24, 2014)

Chuck that sounds like a worthwhile project. I have an RA head for my BP, and use it on occasion I've opened it up and found the gears about an eyeball 18DP. A possible source of cheap gears is the gearbox that drives the blades of a commercial lawn mower, the splines and shafts of those fail before the bearings and gears. At least with the units mt SIL uses.

Just an idea.


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## PMac (Apr 27, 2014)

Hi i'm considering going the other way i'm restoring a 18.. bristol No2 horizontal miller there's a guy where I work pulls apart cars so i have got a couple of diff insides with the intention of using the spider gears in a right angle drive 

Thanks
Paul


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## rodw (Apr 27, 2014)

Chuck, funny you mentioned the angle grinder bevel gears as I was just looking at the on ebay today for a project. only $10-15 delivered! Rough gearing is 2.4:1 on one I looked at. Look round, you could probably buy a cheap angle grinder for $20 or so new and strip the gearbox out of it.


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## cfellows (May 1, 2014)

Still waiting on the gears to arrive.  I found this link to some pictures of the horizontal attachment another fellow made from the same plans.

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/60843-Horizontal-Milling-Attachment

Chuck






http://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php?action=reporttm;topic=3561.12;msg=64176


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## cfellows (May 2, 2014)

I decided to get started on the right angle attachment, even though I don't have the gears yet.  Today I worked on the clamping ring.






 And here it is attached to the nose of the spindle housing...






 I'm going to make the main body from 3" square steel tubing.  It will be welded to the clamping ring later.

 Chuck


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## cfellows (May 3, 2014)

My gears arrived today.  Pretty fast shipping from China, I bought them on April 23 which was only 10 days ago.  Tracking was pretty timely also.











 The OD on the big gear is just under 2" and the ID is a little over 1.25".  I plan to make the attachment accept R8 collets and will use a piece of DOM tubing 1.5" OD by 1" ID for the spindle.  I'm going to first try using a flanged, plain cast iron bushing for the working side.  I didn't have a large enough piece of cast iron on hand so I checked with Speedy Metals for a 2" diameter, 12" long piece.  After choking on their price of $19 + $18 shipping, I searched around on the internet and found a 5 pound dumbell weight at Academy Sports for $3.99 + tax.  They have a store less than 5 miles away, so this morning I drove over and picked one up.






 It's almost 6" diameter and 11/16" thick and already has a 1" hole in the center.  I'll use a 2 3/8" hole saw to cut out the center, then finish it up in the lathe.

 Chuck


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## cfellows (May 3, 2014)

The cast iron weight turned out to be something other than cast iron.  My hole saw made it through the paint and that was it.  I thought it might just be hardened from the casting process, but after cutting more than .1" deep with a carbide end mill, it's still hard and shiny.   On to plan B, after I decide what plan B is...

Chuck


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## Brian Rupnow (May 3, 2014)

This is very interesting Chuck. Although I can't imagine ever needing such a thing, I will follow along to see what the result is.---Brian


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## cfellows (May 4, 2014)

Brian Rupnow said:


> This is very interesting Chuck. Although I can't imagine ever needing such a thing, I will follow along to see what the result is.---Brian


 
 Thanks, Brian.  My immediate interest in this device is to use with my 4th axis to make helical gears.  By cutting the gear teeth from the top with a standard involute cutter, I can adjust the angle of the cutter relative to the blank.  I can also use it to cut gear racks of appreciable lengths and do thread milling.  

 But, mostly it's just out of interest in tooling and mechanical novelties...

 Chuck


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## Brian Rupnow (May 4, 2014)

Chuck--I am trying hard not to start any other projects. the "Rupnow hit and Miss" from last summer and the "Different Opposed Piston Engine" this winter have left me in engine burn out mode.  I did make another ball turner the other day, more out of boredom than any real need for a ball turner. I am anxiously waiting for some warm weather to show up so I can get my hot-rod out and spend the summer indulging in my other hobby. It has been a terribly cold and backwards spring here this year, and the daytime temperatures still haven't broken 70 degrees F so it is still to cool to go riding around in a Ford roadster. Yesterday I caught myself measuring all the plastic handles on my BusyBee lathe so I could machine some brass replacements, but then realized that I don't have any brass stock, so I am spending my time re-reading "Red Storm Rising" for about the third time.--When the world lost Tom Clancy, it lost an excellent author.---Brian


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## gus (May 4, 2014)

At my age of 70, it is apparent I am vulnerable to burnt-out. Good reason why I stayed away from a particular project for  a while and went on to DIY the 4'' RT and the ToolMaker's Chest just to digress for a while to recover. Short holidays help.

About to pick up bar stocks to make the Nemett-Lynx Engine in June. This time ,will try not to bring difficult machining processes to bed. Plan the machining process ahead and get machining done right rather than mess up and break my head to salvage.

The Nemett-Lynx engine will have two HMEM members working on it. Will be fun watching each other's post. This the first time I work on OHCams.


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## cfellows (May 5, 2014)

I just turned 70 last December and, having retired 5 years ago, have a lot of time to do just about anything I want. I have more than a couple of projects on indefinite hold and some I'll never finish. In addition to my metal working, I do things with my Arduino micro controllers and also play my electronic keyboard, play being the operative word...  I expect it frustrates some forum members that I flit around from one project to the next, but I am having fun!

I am going to convert my Bessemer 2-stroke engine to 4-stroke with a helical gear driven side shaft operating the cam. That's part of the reason I want this right angle milling attachment. 

Chuck


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## gus (May 5, 2014)

cfellows said:


> I just turned 70 last December and, having retired 5 years ago, have a lot of time to do just about anything I want. I have more than a couple of projects on indefinite hold and some I'll never finish. In addition to my metal working, I do things with my Arduino micro controllers and also play my electronic keyboard, play being the operative word...  I expect it frustrates some forum members that I flit around from one project to the next, but I am having fun!
> 
> I am going to convert my Bessemer 2-stroke engine to 4-stroke with a helical gear driven side shaft operating the cam. That's part of the reason I want this right angle milling attachment.
> 
> Chuck



Agree with your quote--------" So many projects to do and so little time ''.Best to keep body and mind occupied with our never ending projects.

Watching this thread. Down loaded print for future use. My vertical mill when
used for slitting is limited and slitting long bars impossible. Your attachment will stretch vertical mill capabilities. Please post video when done.
Trust weather has turned warm in your area. Over here its 33----35C. RH 85---90.


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## rodw (May 6, 2014)

cfellows said:


> The cast iron weight turned out to be something other than cast iron.  My hole saw made it through the paint and that was it.  I thought it might just be hardened from the casting process, but after cutting more than .1" deep with a carbide end mill, it's still hard and shiny.   On to plan B, after I decide what plan B is...
> 
> Chuck



I had a chuckle Chuck! I have seen a few people suggest a barbell weight for a flywheel. A friend tried your trick and had exectly the same problem you did. I have not tried it myself but over here I made a mental note of a cast iron specialist supplier who will cut you a slice of iron to order in many different sizes. I think it might end up costing $20 not $5 but that is reasonable I think. I was costing out  a 7" piece 1" thick at the time.


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## cfellows (May 7, 2014)

I've been noodling around with this for a few days.  I almost convinced myself to go with tapered roller bearings,  but a couple of days ago, while at the local Goodwill store, I found a couple of these for $3 apiece...






 I don't think this attachment will get a lot of use and I mostly want to keep it simple, so I'm sticking with cast iron plain bearings for now.  I was able to easily cut a chunk out of the middle with a 2.5" hole saw.











 The finished piece is 2.3" major diameter with a 1.625" shoulder on either side.  The ID is 1.275, same as the ID on the bevel gear.






 I will bore a 1.625" hole through one side of the square tubing and secure the bearing to it with 4 bolts in a circular pattern though the flange.  The other side will have a smaller cast iron plain bearing, similar in shape but with 3/4" ID, and secured in the same manner.

 Chuck


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## cfellows (May 7, 2014)

So here's some more pictures.  I first used a 1.5" hole saw to cut an opening for the shoulder part of the bushing. 






 Then I used a boring bar to open the hole up to 1.625".  Here's the bushing sitting in the freshly bored hole.  I used a flycutter to flatten the area the bushing sits on.






 And here I've drilled and tapped holes in the housing to secure the bushing with 10-32 button head screws.






 Before I bore he bottom hole I'll start on the spindle.

 Chuck


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## cfellows (May 8, 2014)

Here's some more pictures of today's work. I cut the 3" square tubing body to length, then mounted it in my 4 jaw chuck in the lathe and squared up the top end.  I also turned down a 1/8" long shoulder on the end to fit inside the clamping ring to which it will be welded.  This will make sure the square tubing is centered and square in clamping ring.











 And here's the ring fitted over the top of the square tubing body.  I haven't welded in place yet.











 And clamped to the spindle nose of the mill / drill...






 And here's a video of a test run...

 [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQlybFXMUWE[/ame]

 Bear in mind, I haven't yet welded the square body to the clamping ring nor have I completed the outboard end of the horizontal spindle.  That's all coming up next.

 Chuck


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## SilverSanJuan (May 9, 2014)

Nice work there, Chuck. Very clever engineering.

Todd


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## cfellows (May 10, 2014)

Well, it's finished...
















 And ready to go to work...
















 The welding is a little gnarly, but it's functional.  Its first project will be a 10 degree helical gear for the sideshaft on my Bessemer conversion to 4 stroke.

 Chuck


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## cfellows (May 11, 2014)

Here's the video.  I'm using my newly finished, right angle milling attachment to cut a 10 degree, 12 tooth helical gear.  The gear blank is mounted on the 4th axis which controls the indexing and also the rotational movement needed in concert with the X-axis movement to accomplish the cutting.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L18a_wfaRBE[/ame]

The initial centering of the cutter on the gear blank, and the angle of the involute cutter are pretty critical.  If you get them off even slightly, the valleys between the teeth will be too thick and the gear tooth too thin.

Here are some pictures of the gear I just cut (the small one) and an 80 degree, 6 tooth gear I had made earlier using my manual helical gear cutter attachment on my lathe.  The large gear will be mounted on the crankshaft and the smaller gear on the side shaft for my conversion of the Bessemer to 4 stroke operation.  I know it seems counter intuitive that the larger gear will spin twice as fast as the smaller gear, but that's how helical gears work.



























I'm quite please with the right angle attachment.  I think it will see a fair amount of use.

Chuck


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## Brian Rupnow (May 11, 2014)

CHUCK---YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!---Brian


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## Herbiev (May 12, 2014)

Simply brilliant Chuck.


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## Swifty (May 12, 2014)

Now that's very clever Chuck. To convert your machine to CNC, build a 4th axis and machine work like that is amazing.

Paul.


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## cfellows (May 12, 2014)

Brian Rupnow said:


> CHUCK---YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!---Brian



Thanks, Brian, always nice to know you're watching!



Herbiev said:


> Simply brilliant Chuck.



Thanks Herbie



Swifty said:


> Now that's very clever Chuck. To convert your machine to CNC, build a 4th axis and machine work like that is amazing.
> 
> Paul.



Thanks, Paul, it's funny how these things come together sometimes.

Chuck


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## DJP (May 12, 2014)

Congratulations. I watched this thread with interest because I have an old Burke #4 horizontal mill with vertical attachment. It's good to know that my equipment is still relevant, sort of. 

I have cut a new replacement gear using the original gear as an indexing guide but everything that I do is totally manual so watching your video was magical.

I smiled when you said that this was the fourth gear being cut. I too cut a few extras once the jig was set. Having spare gears for the spare gears is not a bad thing. The 50 year old machine that the gear was for can now run for at least another 200 years.

Thanks for sharing.


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## capin (May 13, 2014)

This is going to solve alot of my problems also Chuck. Thanks for taking us with you on this AWESOME project. Brian


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## cfellows (May 15, 2014)

Thanks, guys.  For anyone contemplating building a similar setup, here are a couple of concerns you should think about.  

 I had originally planned to make the body out of a single piece of 4" or 4.5" OD pipe with an ID that would fit my spindle housing.  But I decided on the 3" square tubing because I wanted to make the horizontal shaft as short as possible.  Two reasons for this.  First, the longer the horizontal spindle, the more torsion force it exerts on your milling spindle housing when cutting.  Second, I needed to make sure I had enough Y-Axis travel to let me position the cutter over the work when cutting in the X-Axis direction.

 Also, I already had the 3" tubing on hand and laying out, holding and boring the flat faces was easier than if I had used a round tube.  I don't much like the looks of (my) welding, but in this case it was a practical solution.

 Chuck


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## JAndrew (May 16, 2014)

Mr. Fellows,

 Brilliant!

 Thanks for posting this. I'm currently working the exact same problem but in reverse...putting a vertical milling head on my horizontal mill.

 I was wondering what that bevel gear ratio does to your milling spindle speeds...? It looks like the gear set is 3.1:1 (if I counted right). Should be able to get some pretty low speeds on your horizontal spindle but can you get higher speeds? Or would you ever even need higher speeds?

 Beautiful work either way. You've got me re-thinking the plan I had...:wall:

 I have a good set of bevel gears from an old boat outdrive that I'm very glad now I kept! I'm going to have to count the gear teeth on it when I get home.

 Thanks!
 -J.Andrew


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## cfellows (May 16, 2014)

JAndrew said:


> Mr. Fellows,
> 
> Brilliant!
> 
> ...


 
 Thanks!  The gear ratio is 3.1:1.  I chose these gears based on their availability and the fact that the bevel gear had a large center opening.  The lower speeds will be fine since I'll mostly be using larger diameter cutters.  

 Chuck


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