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Thread: Milling on a lathe
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23rd July 2014, 12:52 PM #1Novice
- Join Date
- Feb 2009
- Location
- Karana Downs
- Posts
- 13
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
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23rd July 2014, 01:12 PM #2SENIOR MEMBER
- Join Date
- Jun 2012
- Location
- SA
- Posts
- 1,477
Yes, a draw bar is essential.
I wouldn't modify/use the sleeves as you may have trouble getting them out of the spindle.
Draw tube is the way to go, but they are not commonly used, and can't help on where to get that kit.
Morse 5 also tends to be expensive for tooling/fittings.
Cheers
RobThe worst that can happen is you will fail.
But at least you tried.
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28th July 2014, 06:03 PM #3Novice
- Join Date
- Jan 2014
- Location
- Portland, Victoria
- Posts
- 24
I Have a MT3-5 adapter for the headstock, short and hollow with no tang, usually used for holding dead centres. PM me if you're interested.
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