Thread: Recommend a face mill please

Originally Posted by morrisman

I have a R8 face mill arbour with a 1" spigot . Can somebody recommend a suitable face mill for it . It's a minefield of choice .... is CTC an option here ? It's for a DM45 Mill Drill

Thanks ..Mike

I'm not sure that CTC is an option here. I didn't actually query them on it, but it seems their stuff is all metric, and I suspect it would be a sloppy (or no) fit on an imperial arbour. Which, if you have a Bridgeport style machine, is made somewhat annoying by the fact that their R8 face mill arbours don't come with 7/16 drawbar thread?

As with many things though, CTC can often get things in for you that they don't list....

I ended up buying a 2 inch and a 5 inch face mill from CDCO. Quick look on their website shows they list 2 1/2 and 3 inch face mills to suit a 1" arbour. Note that they also come with inserts, which I didn't realise - I bought a set for each mill to fit straight away, and a set for each to have spares. So now I have two spare sets for each mill And given that the 5 inch mill has four corners per insert, and the 2 inch 3 corners, I've got nearly a lifetime supply

Of course, since buying them a few months ago, I've had exactly one occasion to use one. I used the 5 inch to surface a sump for a car, so not a great test, although finish was quite good all things considered. They seem reasonable though.

Yes, that was my experience with CTC as well, see here

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/ct...6/#post1253675

I finished up getting a 90deg and a 45deg face mill from CDCO, with integrated R8 arbor.

My R8 arbor that came with the DM45 is still awaiting a purpose.

OK thanks .....

Fred , can you tell me what diameter mills you got ? 2 or 3" maybe

Originally Posted by morrisman

OK thanks .....

Fred , can you tell me what diameter mills you got ? 2 or 3" maybe

The 90deg is the 2" (#46916) and the 45deg one is the 2 1/2" (#46801), I also bought extra inserts with these.

Frank also sells the heads units for your 1" arbor, but they are actually dearer than the dedicated arbor ones I bought.

I also bought a 2" boring head, actually used that for the first time this week

I have used the R8 shank End Mill holders (#25303 and #25305) quite a bit, but haven't used the Flycutter Tools (#25158 and #25157) yet.

Bought an R8-ER25 collet chuck from CTC and that gets a lot of use for the slot drills and end mills, as well as for a 3/8" drill chuck mounted on a 5/8" straight arbor, saves changing out arbors all the time.

I would go with one of these
RIGHT ANGLE SHOULDER FACE MILL - BAP #H99
They have positive rake inserts which is perfect for lower horse power machines for removing material.
A R8 arbour is only $17 to go with it.
22MM R8 FACE MILL ARBOR -M12 #D92

Dave

Originally Posted by morrisman

OK thanks .....

Fred , can you tell me what diameter mills you got ? 2 or 3" maybe

I'd be careful going over 50mm dia. The R8 taper is pretty pathetic really and only a friction drive. 75mm would be the maximum I'd recommend and then only with light cuts.

If you're skimming off the surface of aluminium then OK, you can go bigger.

PDW