What Cutter For Big Cuts On A Small Mill?

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Posted by martin haysom on 24/06/2021 11:14:12:

Posted by not done it yet on 24/06/2021 10:32:20:

a desire to get the job done in reasonable time.

drilling is to slightly less than tapping finished size.

I would rough screw-cut the threads and finish with a tap (under power in the lathe?) – likely saves time compared to getting the single point threading just right.

sorry i am confused if you got a tap why not drill it the correct size and tap the thread

Have you tried tapping 1 1/8" BSW? Half inch is hard enough

Rod

[Anonymous]

Posted by martin haysom on 24/06/2021 11:14:12:

sorry i am confused if you got a tap why not drill it the correct size and tap the thread

It'd take some pretty hefty machinery to drive a 1-1/8" BSW tap under power. Similarly you'll need a large workshop gorilla to drive the tap by hand, as well as the problem of keeping it perpendicular. It's simpler to rough out by screwcutting and then clean up with a tap. Of course it may well be that the OP doesn't have 1-1/8" BSW taps, in which case screwcutting is the way to go.

I have a set of 1-1/8" BSW taps; I'd go the screwcut and then tap route if I needed to use them.

Andrew

[William ChithamParticipant @williamchitham75949]

Posted by Andrew Johnston on 24/06/2021 11:32:34:

Posted by martin haysom on 24/06/2021 11:14:12: Similarly you'll need a large workshop gorilla to drive the tap by hand, as well as the problem of keeping it perpendicular. It's simpler to rough out by screwcutting and then clean up with a tap.

I wanted to do the job without spending a lot on tools so I cut a test thread using one of the old nuts to check it. It wasn't till I'd made the test thread a little undersized that I realized that the sample nut was distorted so at that point I chickened out and bought a second hand tap to finish off. My gorilla was off that day so I had to do it myself and even though the tap was only taking off a smidgin I still needed 12" of scaffold tube on the end of a 12" wrench to turn it. Not the sharpest tap maybe but still, I definitely wouldn't fancy my chances of doing that way from scratch or getting the Boxford to turn it even if I could hold such a tap in the tailstock.

William.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Andrew beat me to it ! You would need a BIG lathe to turn a 1.125" whit tap, even in back gear ! Noel.

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

"a desire to get the job done in reasonable time."

Ahhhh Tempus Fugit.

Regards Ian.

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

Posted by not done it yet on 23/06/2021 18:50:42:

Dave,

I don’t have a plasma cutter – I might get one of the lidl offerings if I ever get the opportunity (some hope of that happening in my local lidl!) but no chance of cutting 25mm. Certainly I will never need a machine capable of a clean 25mm cut.

The bandsaw (with a kerf of about a mm) might at least offer the opportunity of making an approx 5mm ‘waste off-cut’ that might be useful sometime.🙂

I am wondering how William is currently cutting his 42mm pieces from his 50mm (42mm) bar…. and how he intends removing the 8mm (from the long bar, or a stack of short pieces clamped securely together🙂 .

Edited By not done it yet on 23/06/2021 18:51:50

Lidl one, unmoded (they can be adjusted to 40A) will cut 3mm easy, 6mm slowly

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Bigger spanner might have been the easiest option

Nice job on the nuts particularly the washer face detail on the underside.

[Author]

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