Thread: Help with AL60M Mill

Are you talking about using a milling cutter a drill chuck here? Which part is coming off, the chuck off a MT arbor or the whole MT arbor coming out?

You shouldn't be using a drill chuck to run an end-mill if that's what you are doing, the JT taper in the chuck will not stay in place with the sideways forces.

More information would help us.

The AL60M has a 3MT taper. There's a 12mm threaded draw bar to hold it in so I assume you're talking about the drill chuck head coming away from the arbour?

As previously noted, you shouldn't be using the drill chuck to hold milling cutters. Get a set of ER collets and an MT3 collet chuck from CTC or CDCO

Hi Pete,
You are learning a lesson I learn't 25 years ago when I was trying to use my pedestal drill as an over head router, and I still have the mark in the table to prove it. LOL

As said above a drill chuck is no good for side loads and will come off it's taper.
You can either go with a ER collet set (as said above) or some MT3 collets which will take up less room between the head and the table.

The MT 3 collet can be picked up cheap at places like at CTC
MORSE TAPER #3 METRIC COLLET SET (15 PCS) #F79

MORSE TAPER #3 IMPERIAL COLLET SET (11 PCS) #F78

They are also available locally but at inflated prices
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/3MT-Collets

The ER collets cover a wider range with each collet able to contract 1mm.
I am not sure on the size of your machine but I would say either ER 25 or ER 32 set would do you.

If you need to get this job done, you could drill the end of the MT drill chuck arbour and put a small bolt and washer through the center of the drill chuck to hold it on. Some chucks have a hole others don't so you may have to drill a hole through the chuck as well. You would also need to use a draw bar to hold the arbour into the mill spindle which it should have been supplied with.
This set up is a compromise but would get you through the job if needed. A drill chuck has a lot of run out, making the cutter only cut on one side.

Dave

Thanks for that info folks. Wonder why it took a year before failing? - and why sell it as a Mill when it should have been described / sold as a drill by the sounds of it?

Will have to look into the collets.

Pete

A quick 2nd thought - How do I remove the drill arbor from the quill - there is no access from the opposite end like there is in my lathe. Sorry about the newbie question - why can't they also provide training in these machines.

I have this set so once I can remove the drill arbor I should be able to continue - is that right?
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Products?stockCode=C922B#specs

Pete

Unscrew the bolt at the top of the spindle about 2 turns and give it a sharp whack with a hammer and it should unseat the drill arbour so you can put in the collet chuck.
As for why it lasted a year like that, you where lucky.

Dave

OK - Managed to find the manual and have found how to access the draw bar (hidden under a cover I thought was part of the bodywork). Will have a go this morning - nice to have a public holiday today in WA to have the time to check this out. Downside is that no shops open to get the correct sized collet for the mill I am using

Many thanks to all for the help and info provided

Pete

Pete, what you have there is an X2 Mini Mill mounted on your lathe

One of the best manuals for this Mill/Drill is available on the Grizzly website

http://cdn8.grizzly.com/manuals/g8689_m.pdf

Another good source for info on these Mill/Drills is Little Machine Shop and MiniLathe.com

Thanks Big Shed,

That is soooo much better than the so called manual I recieved with my mill. Interestingly neither manual shows the drawbar as it is on the machine - just a long bolt with no seperate nuts!

Managed to match one of my mills with the collets I had a managed to reduce the material I was using from 1" to 3/4" all over (about 5x3") without any more problems. Just time as a factor due to the light cuts required within the limits of the machine.

A quick further question if I may - I assume for a 12mm shaft endmill I require an 11-12mm collet not 12-13mm?

Pete

Originally Posted by WA Pete

A quick further question if I may - I assume for a 12mm shaft endmill I require an 11-12mm collet not 12-13mm?

Pete

That depends

A lot of mills are "nominal" sizes. A 12mm mill could be a re-labeled 1/2" (12.7mm) in which case you would use a 12-13mm collet. A 11-12mm collet will not take anything over 12mm, ER collets are fairly precise when it comes to sizes, so it is a matter of "suck it and see".

So the real answer is to buy both

Such is life

Pete

Originally Posted by WA Pete

So the real answer is to buy both

Such is life

Pete

No, the real answer is buy a set of ER collets, not individual ones, as invariably they are much cheaper as a set, especially from HongKong rather than from local dealer(s).

You are right there with collet size. It would be a lot of stress on a 13mm collet to come down to 12mm, but would be fine for a 1/2 inch end mill at 12.7mm.
Roughing end mills would make the job go quicker for you.
These one's are good for aluminum
4 FLUTE HSS AL ROUGHING ENDMILL CUTTER - METRIC (1 PC) #G73 12mm = $4.50
And these ones are good for all types of steel
4 FLUTE HSS M2AL ENDMILL CUTTER - METRIC (1 PC) #E86 12mm = $6.25

If you haven't bought through him before, he is a good honest seller and a lot of us here buy from him, it usually arrives in around 9- 14 days. Postage can be worked out by adding something to the checkout and selecting the country.

Dave

This is only just the beginning, The rule of thumb is that the tooling usually ends up costing as much, if not more, as the machine itself. Ask me how I know this (but don't as the domestic goddess).