Projects In Metal, LLC

July 30, 2011
3:14 PM

Tenn

Linden, TN USA

Senior Member

Forum Posts: 176

Member Since:
April 19, 2011

Offline

1

0

Above are two very poor pics of a flycutter I made while going to night classes to learn some basics of machining. The cutter bit was one of the other projects we did milling a piece of square stock the depth of the carbides thickness and brazing it in place before sharpening it on a green stone. The carbide was once an insert that got dull so if you have dull inserts and can braze you can make your own carbide cutters for flycutting or even for lathe work. Obviously you would want to orient your carbide for the job at hand but some jobs aren't as fussy as others. The square stock is just mild steel, nothing special other than being square to fit your bit holder.

I've seen some really impressive insert flycutters made on other sites. Mine is mostly unused and rusting from our high humidity Embarassed .

What have you made in the way of flycutters ????? Wink Strut your stuff here and show us your tools, it can't be in worse shape than mine. Confused

The man who will not share his wisdom, however foolish it may seem, For the betterment of his peers and the improvement of his trade, Is not worth his weight in swarf ! Learn from others mistakes, you probably won't live long enough to make them all yourself. But I do think I'm making progress on a lot of them! ~Chris

July 31, 2011
2:10 AM

Mtw fdu

Senior Member

Forum Posts: 257

Member Since:
April 27, 2011

Offline

2

0

Tenn

Just a couple of pics of the flycutter I made for myself for cutting gears. The HSS tool steel was sharpened but it went blunt after quite a few teeth were cut.

As you can see they are very simple tools to make, but your idea of brazing to make a carbide tip is an idea I did not even think of. Come to think of it I can remember somewhere you can get brazing filler wire that is strong enough for building up gear teeth especially if there is a peice chipped.

Cheers!

Mtw fdu.

July 31, 2011
2:24 PM

norman

texas

Senior Member

Forum Posts: 466

Member Since:
November 11, 2010

Offline

3

0

Most all of my cutters are home made for my mill I'll put up some photo's. I'll go take some of the poor boy tools.

July 31, 2011
2:39 PM

norman

texas

Senior Member

Forum Posts: 466

Member Since:
November 11, 2010

Offline

4

0

This is my fly cutter for the mill made from cast aluminum with steel mandrel. I started out using allen head set screws they would strip out too easy( the allen head part) so now using machine screws.

Plans for this are in the Gingery series book #4. The milling machine.

July 31, 2011
2:43 PM

norman

texas

Senior Member

Forum Posts: 466

Member Since:
November 11, 2010

Offline

5

0

These two mill bits are from Harbor freight. With home made mounts for use in the gingery metal mill.

one of the gear cutting bits for the mill.

This is the second of the two gear tooth cutters. I can remove the bit and insert different home made cutting bits made from round tool steel.

July 31, 2011
2:50 PM

norman

texas

Senior Member

Forum Posts: 466

Member Since:
November 11, 2010

Offline

6

0

this dove tail bit is made from some steel scrap for the mill it will cut aluminum fine, use on steel hasn't been tried and will probably tear it up. My home made tools don't look great, but work for me for what I want to do. One thing is the price for these simple tools is very low. Not having a lot of cash to spend to metal working tools is not a problem, just make your own tools.

I have a few old carbide tool bits I'll have to make me a few brazed boring bars and bits. Thanks for the idea Tenn.

July 31, 2011
3:15 PM

harborfreight8x12

Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

Senior Member

Forum Posts: 124

Member Since:
July 18, 2010

Offline

7

0

Hi Norman. Is that drill rod? I can see the heat treating on it.

Regards, Al

July 31, 2011
4:41 PM

norman

texas

Senior Member

Forum Posts: 466

Member Since:
November 11, 2010

Offline

8

0

Harborfreight8x12

No that dove tail cutter is just some scrap steel of unknown type. I did try heat treating it to a straw color. I don't know if it helped or not, figured it won't hurt.

I've seen guys take high grade bolts and machine the hexhead into cutters and heat treat them. I don't know if they work any better than the one I made. Just a way to make due with what you have.

I'm going to try brazing up some cutters using carbide soon just for the fun of it. I want to make some boring bars that way for the lathe too.

July 31, 2011
7:41 PM

Tenn

Linden, TN USA

Senior Member

Forum Posts: 176

Member Since:
April 19, 2011

Offline

9

0

Good work gentlemen Smile Smile

I forgot to mention keystock makes good blanks to start with for a homemade cutter.

The man who will not share his wisdom, however foolish it may seem, For the betterment of his peers and the improvement of his trade, Is not worth his weight in swarf ! Learn from others mistakes, you probably won't live long enough to make them all yourself. But I do think I'm making progress on a lot of them! ~Chris

August 1, 2011
2:55 AM

Mtw fdu

Senior Member

Forum Posts: 257

Member Since:
April 27, 2011

Offline

10

0

Norman

That gear cutter that you have got in your home-made mill holder is that just a tapered end mill used for slotting and if it is what size is it and and what size gear can it cut? I have got a few of them from 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, and 1/2 inch.

Hang on for a sec, I think I am looking at the wrong picture! But I think I did see a video once of a gear being cut with a slotting (tapered) end mill. Just can't recall where. Anyone else out there have you seen it. I think it was on Youtube.

Cheers.

Mtw fdu.