Weldon Shank in collet?

[ShentParticipant @shent]

Hi,

I am about to receive my first benchtop mill so a little green to all this, first job is to machine some mild steel and unknown steel (not stainless) upto about 10mm thick. Benchtop milling machine, 1.5hp motor max 2500rpm.

I have seen some nice end mills on a few websites but they all have a flat milled into them. I Know I can physically put the end mill in a r8 or er25 collet but wanted to know if it would cause any issues ie slippage, crushing of collets etc….or if anyone has any recommendations for end mills that would be great as the selection is overwhelming.

Cheers

Mark

[ShentParticipant @shent]

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

I have some end mills with the flat, and they are generally put in a standard R8 collet. I make sure the flat in centralised in one of the three segments. With er25 collets, I would try to get the maximum amount of full diameter into the collet, even if that meant leaving only a small length of shank protruding. Just make sure the drawbar is tight.

Edited By old mart on 14/12/2019 22:23:59

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Mark,

The end mills with a flat should not be a problem. I have a couple and use them in an ER collet without any problem.

Paul

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

Hi Mark welcome to the forum. You shouldn't have any problem with that style of cutter in a collet. They are called Weldon type and the holder has a grub screw to secure the cutter but it will make no difference to you as long as you tighten the collet up to proper force. If you use an ER collet it should be very tight perhaps more than you expect. But in a R8 type collet just make sure it has enough length and to usual force.

David

[Enough!Participant @enough]

As others have said there isn't a problem using weldon-shank cutters in a collet but f it's your first experience with a milling machine I would ditch the "unknown steel" and stick to known material until you have a bit of experience …. if you have any trouble you won't know whether it's your technique or the material and it's difficult for others to advise – a situation that comes up quite often here.

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

If the cutters are hss (steel and magnetic) rather than solid carbide (very weakly magnetic and heavy feeling) then some lubrication will extend their life considerably. You could get a small amount of water soluble cutting oil and dilute it to about 10% and put it in a squeezy bottle to dribble on as you cut.

[ShentParticipant @shent]

Thank you all for the replies. Good to know that I can use the Weldon shank endmills in both r8 and er collects. Good thought about centralizing Mart, it's something I'll need to be vigilant of when tightening up, also nice tip on the oil, I would have just run it at 100%. I have a er25 collect David and had looked up torque ratings with the conses being around 75-80 ft lbs although I have no way to measure (as the er torque spanners i have see are well over £100) so will likely just be cranking down as hard as I think. I can find out what the unknown steel is bendersnatch but without that comment I probably wouldn't have so thanks.

Mark

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

Another popular way of dispensing the oil is to use a small cheap brush and one of the oil pots that do not leak when knocked over. I do up the er25 collets by using two spanners and using the bench top and tightening before fitting to the spindle. If tightening in situ, then 12" spanner extensions are a great help.

[ShentParticipant @shent]

I have seen the oil pots used quite a lot on YouTube. That's something else to add to the shopping cart. Should be ok tightening off the machine, my collect holder luckily has 2 flats on it and I have brought a er25 spanner so should be ok, will just have to guess how much by trial and error.

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

Plain shank with flat is fine I even have dozens of the clarkson threaded cutters that I put in a collet.

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