Holding End Mills

[Captain Jerry]

I needed to use a 3/8 end mill in my 9x20 lathe and not having either a proper collet or holder I looked for a a quick solution. Not wanting to damage the jaws of the 3-jaw chuck or the shank of the end mill, I slipped the mill into a short length of hobby brass tubing with a 3/8" ID and gripped it in the chuck jaws. The soft brass protected both items and I felt more comfortable with the grip provided. I used the setup to take up to 1/8" cuts it aluminum with good results. The only problem that I encountered was carriage creep until I used the carriage lock.

This is probably not accepted practice. Before posting a work in progress using this method, I wanted to see what kind of comments if any that this method might draw.

Comments please?

Jerry

 

[Mainer]

A commercial machine shop might be appalled....but we aren't commercial machine shops. IMO, in a home shop, whatever works (and is safe) is exactly the way to do it. One of the pleasures of this hobby is finding ingenious solutions to problems.

 

[Kermit]

Did you split the tubing first, or just use it as is?

Kermit

 

[Maryak]

IMO, in a home shop, whatever works (and is safe) is exactly the way to do it. One of the pleasures of this hobby is finding ingenious solutions to problems.

CJ,

Good move, the shanks of end mills are not soft like the shanks of drills, (broken end mills make good boring bar tool bits).

Best Regards
Bob

 

[Captain Jerry]

No need to split the brass tubing, Kermit. The wall thickness is only about .0156" and the ID is a close fit on the 3/8" shank.

Jerry

 

[rake60]

Jerry a commercial machine shop would not be appalled at all.

They might be offended by your public announcement of how
you get the job done with what you have on hand.

If it works safely, it's all good!

Rick