Milling on a lathe

I have a small Chinese lathe (AL-320G) and I have a requirement to do small milling jobs occasionally. I work mainly in steel and, from what I have read, small milling machines are not robust enough to handle steel. So I would need a larger mill. However, since I cannot justify (afford) a "reasonable" mill, I intend to use the lathe to do small milling operations. I have read blogs etc suggesting that, provided it is set up properly, a small lathe can do a reasonable job of milling steel. I realise that it is rather limited in capacity but, for the type of work that I envisage doing, that should not be a problem.

I have setup a generic Chinese Vertical Mill Slide on the cross-slide and have a MT3-ER32 collet chuck which I use in the tailstock to hold centre drills etc but I could also use it in the MT5 headstock to hold milling cutters by using MT sleeves. The ER32 chuck I have has a 1/2 inch Whitworth female drawbar thread but the sleeves (MT3-MT4 and MT4-MT5) have tangs. Therefore I cannot pass a drawbar through the sleeves unless I modify them by cutting off the tangs. I don't really want to do this as I fear that, unless done properly, it may compromise the integrity of the sleeves.

My first question then is: Is a drawbar essential for milling operations? If so, would it be appropriate to modify the MT sleeves?

I have seen on a forum somewhere an MT5-ER32 collet chuck with a male thread and a 22mm hollow drawtube. This seems like a good idea as it would allow longer material to pass through. Does anyone know if such a setup is available, where from, and at what cost or would it have to be shop made?

In anticipation of much informative advice (as always),
Thanks,
Kevin

I have had the same lathe for a few years and when I bought it, it came with a vertical mill slide, which took a fair bit of adapting to fit.
While it is very limited, I have used it to make many small things in steel and brass with amazingly good results.
I only have end mills and a few fly cutters I have made myself and I use them in the lathes 3 jaw chuck which has worked well for what I have done so far. (or probably likely to do) so I'm no help for your collet chuck question.
If it was me I'd be tempted to cut the tangs off the sleeves, they're probably no use to you the way they are anyway.
I'm sure you will get some more informed advice from people here who really do know what they are doing, I've found there is a lot of knowledge on this Forum.

You can cut the tang off the end of the sleeve if you want without any detrimental effect to the holding ability,although you will of course lose the ability to eject from other tooling.

Did your lathe come with a M/T 5/3 adaptor for the spindle.

You would be better off in my opinion to limit the amount of sleeves you use.

You could purchase another ER 32 M/T 3 collet chuck and use the M/T 5/3 adaptor and drawbar,or you may be able to purchase a M/T 5/3 sleeve and cut the tang off that.

You should use a draw bar when milling

You definitely need to use a drawbar in this situation, the sideways forces on the milling cutter will walk the morse taper out of the spindle which can ruin your day quick smart.

If you want to use a collet chuck to hold stock (as opposed to just a milling cutter in which case the through hole is irrelevant) you could use something like this Tools4cheap LLC Online Machine Shop Tooling Store: ER 40 Collet Chuck Fixture,ER Collets and Chucks which would no doubt require some work to allow it to bolt to the spindle flange on the AL320G.

If you just want a collet chuck with no through hole you can buy ER collet chucks with MT5 tapers as standard. (I have a Vertex one which I'm thinking of selling if you are interested)

Alternatively you could go for the 5C option C980 | 5C Collet Lathe Adaptor | machineryhouse.com.au - with the limitation that the 5C collets will only hold stock of the exact size marked on the collet.

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Originally Posted by newmanwoodlands

I have a small Chinese lathe (AL-320G) and I have a requirement to do small milling jobs occasionally. I work mainly in steel and, from what I have read, small milling machines are not robust enough to handle steel. So I would need a larger mill. However, since I cannot justify (afford) a "reasonable" mill, I intend to use the lathe to do small milling operations. I have read blogs etc suggesting that, provided it is set up properly, a small lathe can do a reasonable job of milling steel. I realise that it is rather limited in capacity but, for the type of work that I envisage doing, that should not be a problem.

I have setup a generic Chinese Vertical Mill Slide on the cross-slide and have a MT3-ER32 collet chuck which I use in the tailstock to hold centre drills etc but I could also use it in the MT5 headstock to hold milling cutters by using MT sleeves. The ER32 chuck I have has a 1/2 inch Whitworth female drawbar thread but the sleeves (MT3-MT4 and MT4-MT5) have tangs. Therefore I cannot pass a drawbar through the sleeves unless I modify them by cutting off the tangs. I don't really want to do this as I fear that, unless done properly, it may compromise the integrity of the sleeves.

My first question then is: Is a drawbar essential for milling operations? If so, would it be appropriate to modify the MT sleeves?

I have seen on a forum somewhere an MT5-ER32 collet chuck with a male thread and a 22mm hollow drawtube. This seems like a good idea as it would allow longer material to pass through. Does anyone know if such a setup is available, where from, and at what cost or would it have to be shop made?

In anticipation of much informative advice (as always),
Thanks,
Kevin

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Hi Kevin,
I agree with Rob, you need a draw bar otherwise your chuck could vibrate loose and horrible things could happen.
I am a retired toolmaker and have a similar lathe in the workshop.
You need to use an adapter sleeve in the nose of your spindle. this takes the form of an open MT5 - MT3 sleeve which should have come with your lathe accessories. If not this type of sleeve is plentiful through most machinery suppliers.

When in position you simply slide your drawbar straight through as it does not have a tang.

Hope I've made some sense,

Regards, Col. http://d1r5wj36adg1sk.cloudfront.net...cons/icon7.png

Kevin,

Also have the same lathe and few years ago went through the problems you now face....there are previous posts on this thread about setting up a mill attachment for that lathe which are worth reading but in summary, I now use an ER40 Collet/Chuck on an MT5 to hold the cutters.....as mentioned by Gavin, there are many available such as Jeff's at Tools4Cheap (he has a sale on currently and well worth a look:U) and not forgetting CTC...........I would suggest you definitely need a draw bar but in all honesty, don't purchase one with the collet/chuck as the freight is not worth it if they come separately listed (as CTC's did) ....easy enough to fabricate one yourself but you'll need to take care in how you go about it as the pulley's in the housing on the AL320 come over the bore to some degree so the draw bolt nut/spacers may need adjusting anyway.....hence make your own...they are usually standard threads anyway...

It's up to you how you decide to hold your cutters but an MT5 collet/chuck is by far the easiest and cheapest option with IMHO the most accurate setup for what you want...but do use a draw bar - it needs it for cutters otherwise there will be tears and bad language in the shed...:no:
hope that helps.......Lee

Quote:

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Originally Posted by newmanwoodlands

I have seen on a forum somewhere an MT5-ER32 collet chuck with a male thread and a 22mm hollow drawtube. This seems like a good idea as it would allow longer material to pass through. Does anyone know if such a setup is available, where from, and at what cost or would it have to be shop made?
Kevin

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Like this?

This one is shop made, don't know if they are available commercially. If I was making it again, for various reasons I would have the male threads on the drawbar and the female thread inside the morse taper.

Frank.

Attachment 320428

Kevin, those "small" milling jobs soon grow in size. Before you know it theres a decicated mill occupying some shed space. :D

Collets for the lathe can be really handy, to avoid chuck marks and to have something run pretty true without much effort. I would encourage you to set up a collet chuck properly that you can place longer lengths of bar stock through, and it will hold milling cutters just fine. They are also quite rigid. I have drilled through the tang of a MT adapter, after all it was only a cheap one and I needed to fit a collet chuck in the lathe now for a repair job. A bit agricultural I know!! You need a drawbar for milling, not optional!!

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Originally Posted by Burner

Collets for the lathe can be really handy, to avoid chuck marks and to have something run pretty true without much effort.

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Once you've set up a collet chuck in the spindle you will see the benefit.

Machining very small items like sleeves, bushes, threaded bolts, pins, is a snack. No way you could do the same job in a clunky chuck of any size, as easily and without crushing/marking it. And it's damn accurate as well.

It's not just about milling, it's about work holding, and ER is just a much better form of chuck than most people are used to.

You won't regret having a set.

Rob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by barkersegg

Kevin,

easy enough to fabricate one yourself but you'll need to take care in how you go about it as the pulley's in the housing on the AL320 come over the bore to some degree so the draw bolt nut/spacers may need adjusting anyway.....hence make your own...they are usually standard threads anyway...

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As you say, the pulley does come over the bore.


Attachment 320613

Could you please post a pic of what you did to overcome this.

BTW, I have ordered an MT5-ER32 collet chuck with M20 drawbar thread from Alibaba in China. It cost approx. $75 delivered. Good price just hope quality is OK.

Thanks,
Kevin