Milling production tips
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- A short video on some thoughts and techniques for manual mill work on multiple similar parts. These are the pipette rack project parts. The blocks in the video hold the small glass sample vials used in the process. Material is Starboard polyethylene.
Hi Tom,
Several great tips learned here, most important one is that no one likes a "suck fest"!
Thanks for sharing bud!
Ray
Hey Ray,
I suppose it depends on which side of the street you walk on. Its frowned upon in machine and woodchuck shops.
Cheers,
Tom
No part of this wasn't brilliant. Well done, Tom - simple, effective, and efficient. And educational!
Hi Home,
Thanks for the comment and compliment.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Tom,
The easy part is watching the video, now in the shop and practice getting better...
Thanks for all the trouble you spare for producing the videos.
Take care,
Pierre
Hey Pierre,
Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Nice tips. I love the tiny smiley face on one of the gage pins... :)
Hi Atilla,
Another one of my tricks to keep Mr Bozo away. Typically you use the pins in three's. The problem is if you don't mark the nominal pin you are forever looking at the sizes marked on them. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Thanks for the tips! Like the countersink cage, and the end mill boring tool is a real good one!
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Tom, that was a very informative video with some really slick tricks, I loved the end mill in the boring head, and reverse to get rid of the shavings. Keep them great videos coming, at 71 I'm still learning.
Hey John,
Thanks for the comment and compliment.
Cheers,
Tom
Thanks Tom. There are some great aircraft tooling that many folks overlook for common jobs in the shop. I use that type of countersink all the time, love EM. I liked the offset end mill idea in the boring head. thanks again, Randy
Hey Randy,
Thanks for the comment.
All the best,
Tom
Those were some great tips. I really liked changing out the part over driving to the next location. Thanks for posting this!
Hey Bob,
Well thanks for viewing it and commenting on it.
All the best,
Tom
Lots of good advice and tips in this one Tom! Thanks for sharing!
Adam
Hey Bud,
Thanks for stopping by. Abom approved video. Now I can relax.
Talk to you soon.
Tom
(aka MFM)
Hey Tom,
You know how one gets really good at there craft?
Is by learning from one who is really good at there craft!!!
You remind me of my welding instructor I had in college. No matter how good my welds were, he always praised my work, but then, told me he thought I could do better. So back in the booth I went!
Thanks for your dedication, and devotion to passing on your knowledge and skills!!
Razor!
Hey Ray,
Thanks for stopping by. Now get back to the pipe threading.
All the best,
Tom
oxtoolco
Have you been here without me knowing? How'd you know I'm still FUSS-ING around with this job?
Funny guy you is.....
Hey Tom, I like the boring head set up.Nicely done.Thanks for your sharing your approach. Dave
Hey Dave,
Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Using a boring head with an end mill is an outstanding tip. Thanks!
An old video I know but a very good one. I use a dove tail cutter in a boring head like that to cut a very odd side rotary dovetail. It works great!
Thanks for the great videos!
Tom, that was a great example of proper work flow showing better efficiency. The job I held for many years had an incentive program for doing just the same thing and it definitely allowed me to earn some mad money over the years and who doesn't like mad money.. Thanks and take care.
Hey Randy,
Nothing better for your career than making the boss some money. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
I always learn something from your videos Tom. Your conversational style is great and "speaks to me". I often catch myself trying to determine whether to drill, countersink and tap OR to drill, drill, drill, move, move, move.....LOL.
Sometimes the simple solution (one that a child would likely come up with like taking the part out of the vise instead of moving the bed) is the most elusive! Great stuff.
Hey Brad,
I happens to me all the time. Fish, cut bait, row..... Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Tom,
I have worn more than a few of those countersink cages in my now 25 year plus career as a aircraft structures/mechanic technician. I wish I had $1.00 for every hole I drilled,reamed and countersunk in a airplane, I could probably retire early. Now I am mainly focused on machine work and I have to say it is the best thing I like to do. But I hate doing production type work and any help making it go quicker is much appreciated. Most people do not realize that almost all modern aircraft are still held together with 100,000's of rivets most of which are "bucked" in by hand. It is only the very latest commercial aircraft that are slowly going to composite fuselage's and wings, and I am not sure that is a better idea! Keep up the great videos.
Hey Cleco,
Thanks for the comment and installing all those rivet correctly. Whenever I fly I think about how complicated an airplane is. A friend gave me a tour of the United maintenance facility one time. Actually made me scared to see how complex modern aircraft are.
Cheers,
Tom
Once again pure gold tips Tom. I keep a counter sink mounted in a flea market brace drill and find it pretty handy. I count handle turns for the depth and it never sucks in but is not nearly a slick as that countersink. Thanks
Hey Craig,
I have one of those bent whirly electricians screw drivers with a small countersink on it used in a similar way. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi
Tom
Some good tips in this video
Regards
John
Hey John,
Thanks for stopping by. I see your shirts are spreading all over the world. Time for another run from the looks of it.
All the best,
Tom
Boy, I have to do some deep imaginings to see myself getting to a place where I feel so comfortable with a mill, but one never knows. Great time saving tips all around, and that is one thing I'm always short of, so I will have to use what techniques I can to work them into any of my projects. Even building a deck uses some of those tips on tool set up for cutting of a bunch of lengths and having more than one drill driver with different types of of bits in the chuck ready for a long row of screws.
Take good advice and modifying it for your own means is always very handy, thanks
Aloha...Chuck.
BTW...the weather is changing finally, yeehaw!
Hey Chuck,
Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Hey Tom, great video. Looks like your T-Shirt collection is growing.
Hey Dennis,
Naw, Just dug down a little further in the drawer. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Thanks Tom nice idea with the end mill had not thought of that.
Chock full of useful information, well presented. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Jim,
Thanks for stopping by. Looking forward to the sun coming back yet?
Cheers,
Tom
Good one. We just pasted the September equinox on the 21st on which day the night and day were of equal length. Now it gets worse, the days get shorter: nights longer. Hey, I'll have more time to watch your fine programming. Right now we are trying to get all outdoor work done before snowfall. Oops! It snowed three days ago (and we are at sea level!). Still enjoying your great programs.
Another great vid, Tom! One comment on your end mill in the boring bar holder trick. Very handy and will no doubt work fine for soft materials like plastics and maybe even aluminum but keep in mind that, because the end mill is rotating in an arc rather than spinning on its axis, the cutting occurs along only one vertical side of the mill instead of along all of the cutting edges of the flutes. This can dramatically increase friction and reduce cutting effectiveness. Also, paying attention to the orientation of the mill in the holder so that the end of one flute is on the cutting edge in your arc (furthest away from the center of rotation) so that it is the leading point of contact with the work would likely improve the action of such a setup.
Hey Bruce,
You are correct that the tool has to be correctly oriented. It behaves like a single point boring tool. The flutes are helical and as long as the flute is aligned correctly everything behind the point is just along for the ride and not dragging on the bore. Thanks for the great comment.
Cheers,
Tom
great video. i have used most of those techniques my self on many occasions. i must say though, that counter sink is something else, and i wish i had one of those in my tool box. ill have to add that to my wish list.
Hey Killer,
Check out Microstop caged countersinks online.
Cheers,
Tom
15:15 I have those same Knipex pliers. They hang out in my back pocket all day at work (and sometimes at home cuz I forget them) and are by far some of the best pliers out there. They can take some serious abuse and keep on trucking.
Hey Secret,
I like them as well. I have some without the pushbutton and some with smooth jaws. They are really nice pliers. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
What a great video. There was (still is) a French Military Academy, St. Cyr, the West Point of France. Back in 1890 or so, in order to graduate from this academy, you had to pass the St. Cyr 3-3-3 test. You were given three horses, three bottles of champagne, and three prosti... oops ladies of ill repute. You were also given a very limited amount of time to complete this obstacle course,"in all particulars" as John Masters said in his book. This is a classic production problem. In what order do you tackle your fences? You solved it very neatly and taught me a lesson. You get the St. Cyr 3-3-3 award hands down. Production problems are the core of any profession, be it machining, woodworking, or automotive manufacture, even (or especially with CNC. It is well to think before you drill. I would not have thought to counterbore before I drilled.
I forgot to mention you had three cross-contry courses to complete with you three horses. Sorry.
Hey Juan,
Thanks for the great story. Never heard of that test. I'll have to look it up.
All the best,
Tom
oxtoolco . I made the 3-3-3 name up. I do not know what the French called it back then. The test itself is true. However, along with horses in war, it went out with WWI.
Juan Rivero oxtoolco That's not a test, that's a drinking game! And I would expect that during that game it would be "well to think before you drill"!
Quick and good thanks for the info Tom
Hi William,
Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Great tips!
Those "counter-sink cages" are cool. At MD we used a type that had a ratcheting micrometer adjuster and the foot was micro-polished chrome (so it wouldn't mar the skin of the aircraft). On some mornings, you would hear the high speed Jiffy guns going to town. After all of the holes were drilled, counter-sunk and inspected..... the hanger would rock with the sound of rivet guns.
Hey Joe,
Its amazing to see how an airplane goes together. There is a lot of hand work even today.
Cheers,
Tom
oxtoolco Hey Tom, I wish I photographed the machine shops, tooling fab buildings, and the chemical machining buildings. Shoot, I wish I took pictures of everything! Nothing was a national/military secret. In 1997 they had about a hundred Chinese in the plant learning how to build the narrow body jets. I took a lot of photographs of the subassembly areas and the final assembly lines. I'd like to post them on some MD memorabilia website. I took a lot of time lapse photos of the fuselage sections being joined, nose join, wing jigs.... The fuselage joins are really cool. There are just a few alignment devices, plumb bobs and lasers. It was the best place on earth to work (for me)!
oxtoolco I know that feeling. Last thursday I had a look around Airbus down in Bristol. Real interesting to see the assembly of the wing. Got to see one at nearly every stage.
Neat video as always Tom. Thanks.
As always, thanks’ for taking the time to make this video! And I support this site. ~M~
excellent show. Thanks!
Those countersink holders were widely used at the Boeing Co., when I was there. I still have a few of them. The countersinks were 100 deg. for aircraft standards and rivets.
good stuff, great video. you could also turn the part around after you finished you first run, would half your set ups. we marked our end mill also but we were drilling things from aluminium and rotate the end mill a little after it started to get dull or chipped an edge.
sam yeates Hi Sam,
You are correct about swapping ends. The only problem with that method is the blank length messes with your hole center to center distances. The guide rods and moving platform have to function so the hole center distance needs to be consistent. Good suggestion. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
yep, errors are multiplied in this method but you set ups are so meticulous. the end mill in the boring head holder, the starting edge has to be straight +1/-1 in line with the boring head to cut the hole correctly, right? thanks
sam yeates Hey Sam,
The end mill trick works if you are on center or slightly behind center. There is a little tolerance to the position. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
That micrometer countersink works great, but if using it to countersink screw holes, remember that aircraft rivets are countersunk at a different angle than screws. Retired aircraft mechanic/machinist, the voice of experience.
Hey Dean,
The threaded shank countersinks are available in all the standard screw angles for standard and aircraft screws. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Now I'm wondering how big and how accurate could you be on a Bridgeport with boring head and end mills? Will have to experiment!!!!
Nice one Tom.
Hi Tom,
Great tips on production machining! I like the idea of using the boring head to obtain custom hole diameters. Do you not have to pay particular attention to the end mill orientation so the tip of the cutting edge runs out the furthest? You would also have to use a straight flute end mill or slow your feed rate relative to the spindle RPMs to minimize scalloping.
I like the aircraft countersink tool too. Makes an easy job of an otherwise tedious task.
Bob
Hey Bob,
I orient the flute parallel with the boring head movement. The cutting edge is relieved behind this point. As long as the end mill is smaller than the hole is works.
Cheers,
Tom
Neat endmill in the boring head trick...filing that one. ;-)
Colin
Hey Colin,
That trick won't work in your machine. You have to stand on one leg to do it. Thanks for the comment.
All the best,
Tom
Dang it, too few legs again...... ;-)
I would love to know who the sad sack is who did the thumb down ? You and your videos are priceless . Thank you for taking the time and making the effort Tom ! George
Hey George,
I learned pretty quick you cant keep everybody happy. If only our leadership understood this we would be looking pretty good. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Tom,
Your videos are awesome, i'm a new subscriber (2 month). I WATCHED THEM ALL :D (videos). Many many hours :). Thank you very much.
Greetings from Slovakia
Hi Martin,
Thanks for the subscription. Your eyes must be hurting by now looking at me for all those hours. Thanks for the comment.
All the best,
Tom
Hey Tom: Very good operation, nice and efficient. I'm just wondering if you could stack drill them and then glue bottoms on the finished work. I know it sounds hokey, but, I had to offer my 5 cents.
Hey Kevin,
You're right its hokey...... Just kidding.
Seriously. This material is pretty easy to work with except gluing. In use the blocks get a solvent bath regularly because of contamination. I don't know what kind of cement or glue would work. You could screw bottoms on but then that is more work than drilling a flat bottom hole. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
I enjoyed that video but could you state the name of that counterbore device or show us a closeup please?
Hey Dan,
Search for microstop countersink. This should show you some images of the device. I believe Aircraft Spruce sells them.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Tom
Great lesson/tips/discussion....QUESTION, the end mill/boring head method would only be used in soft material...plastic, aluminum etc....but not in steel? Is that a correct assumption?
Chuck
Hey Chuck,
A dead plunge into steel might work if the end mill was short and stubbly. Probably not optimal. I would predrill the center out and leave a whisker in the bottom for the end mill to make it flat. It would depend on the size of the hole in relation to the boring head size and rigidity.
Cheers,
Tom
Great video!
I'm fairly new to milling...
Question, using a Boring Bar and an End Mill, how do you determine the offset? I know mathematically, the angles could be calculated, however, it appears that you may have a short and sweet method. Otherwise, what formula do you use with regards to teeth, diameter of the tool, and angle to determine the circumference of the hole and it's bottoms "flatness"?
I'm sorry, I'm a little lost here... I've learned a lot from you and really appreciate your videos. I did learn one new technique within' this video; if I need to duplicate work repeatably, I won't move the table if I don't have to.
Thanks,
Matt
Hey Matt,
Its much easier than all that. I make an initial cut that I know for sure is under size. I measure that hole then move the boring head the amount of the difference between the current size and the desired size. The ultimate flatness is determined by the relationship between the hole diameter and the diameter of the end mill. The flattest hole is one that the end mill is a whisker over half the diameter of the hole. Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Tom
Another great video, thanks for putting these up Tom, they're a credit to you. I don't want to waste your time but have checked through the comments and don't think anyone has asked, does the pilot bushing you turned slip over the existing pilot of a #21/#12/etc standard pilot cutter, or does the cutter you're using have a special pilot designed for this purpose? Also have you used the same technique on harder materials like steel, and if so what did you use for the pilot?
I really liked the end mill in the boring head, great tip. I've used them as weeny boring bars in the lathe, but wouldn't have thought to use them in a boring head. Thanks for sharing that one.
Hey Pete,
Thanks for the comment. The pilot is a light press fit on a normal piloted countersink and a running fit in the part bore. I used delrin for the pilot just because it was easy. I've used brass or bronze when doing something harder like steel.
Cheers,
Tom
Hey Tom wouldn't this be a perfect project for a CNC router?You could fixture all the pieces and knock them out with only one tool change. In fact you could cut the blocks, drill the holes and countersink them all at one time out of one piece of material. Thanks for the videos I love watching you work.
Brooks Ravenscroft Hey Brooks,
Send the CNC router to....... I guess I'll have to build one. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Hey tom! More good stuff as usual! Its kinda off subject but you used delrin for the countersink bushing and Ive never had my hands on the stuff but was wondering how it holds up to heat, friction, and oil. I was considering using it to make seal rings for a steam engine piston. What do you think?
Hey Dan,
Delrin might not be the best choice if your going to actually use steam. It absorbs some water and has a service temperature of only 180F. Its great for lots of mechanical stuff and machines great.
Cheers,
Tom
Is it thinkable to buy a cheap countersink, drive a hole to the diameter of the end mill shank and glue it at the right height in order to do the job in one pass ?
Hey Robert,
Most countersinks are pretty hard material. They do make some that slip over drills for the exact reason you mention. These were odd holes and not that many of them. I would invest in more special tooling if I had many holes to do and they would not change sizes. Thanks for the comment and question.
Cheers,
Tom
Do you know how many times I have gone to eBay right after watching one of Tom's videos and bought a tool he has used? There should be a way he could get a kick back from the sale :-)
This time I couldn't resist buying one of those microstop countersinks. The one I got had three extra cutters with it.
Thanks Tom.
Hey Freeman,
McMaster sells the threaded countersinks and drills as well as Aircraft Spruce.
All the best,
Tom
great idea...
Hi Tom, I've never realized how many times I was experiencing "SUCKFEST" and not knowing it, I always had other monikers I would use to describe it. Really liking the boring head/endmill technique, do you think that will be ok for use in harder materials?
Great video as always ....... Mike
Hey Mike,
Well a suckfest is not always a bad thing. I have used the endmill deal on aluminum quite a few times. Just don't get greedy on your offset.
cheers,
Tom
Tom, Where are those aircraft counter sinks available ??
Hey Rick,
Check out Microstop caged countersinks online. Aircraft Spruce among others sells them to the homebuilders.
Cheers,
Tom
oxtoolco Thanks Tom, I have the latest Aircraft Spruce catalog , I'll check there. By the way.....while watching Barrel Switch part 1 I darn near fell off my chair laughing when you began talking about your McMaster Carr catalog. NOTHING.....beats being able to thumb through a catalog. Sometimes I may not know exactly what it is I am looking for , maybe I have a bit of an idea and while thumbing through McMaster Carr I will spot something and think to myself, that's exactly what I need. I can't tell you how many times the first thing I will do before I begin a project is to thumb through McMaster and perhaps MSC so things are ordered before I'm in the middle of project and have to order something and wait. As you, I do most of my ordering on line but only after I have looked at the catalog to determine what it is I need. I have told several people at McMaster Carr the very same thing when they say "oh you can use our web site"......yaaaaa if you know exactly what you need. As I said, sometimes I don't know exactly what I need or perhaps don't know the correct name of it to check it out on line. I have had an account there for many years but have noticed lately I need to practically beg one from them. Anyway...that is a very long winded way of saying I totally agree with your feelings on catalogs. But what really made it funny is when I rewound that portion of the video and called my wife over and said " listen to Tom.....where have you heard that on sooo many occasions ? Ok,ok, so I'm a catalog junkie. LOL
Nice work, Tom. I suspect those blocks are to hold vials for the biomedical industry.
Hi Tom,
Good guess. The blocks are for separation of rock samples from cores in oil bearing areas. They hold packed columns and separate the material for mass spec and GC analysis.
Cheers,
Tom
Tom, Cool end mill trick. I imagine that is a two flute center cutting EM?
Hey Eric,
You would be imagining correctly.
Cheers,
Tom
There are times when swapping parts is even faster and easier on CNC semi manual lathes than it is to hand change
several tools for each part LOL
Those damn CA tool holders get heavy in a hurry!!
Great tips keep em coming!!
Hey Gent,
I feel you. It would be interesting to to a time study for a short run thing like these blocks. A good CNC operator would know just how much to program and how much to do offline to make the best time. Short run jobbing is a pain to optimize. Thanks for the comment. Hey just don''t run it on the big machines. I can't even one arm a 50 taper holder any more unless its an ER-8 or has an 1/8 drill in it.
Cheers,
Tom
oxtoolco Thank goodness both the Haas mills I run are cat 40 but it is still a stretch to reach the spindle on the VF6!
And a 4" od Criterion boring head is heavy as hell even on an as short as I could make it cat 40 adapter when your stretched out further than you can really reach with you knees trying to hyperextend against the cabinet LOL
The sticker on the machine that reads "DO NOT CLIMB IN MACHINE" is for the lawyers and safety pricks, not for anyone that actually has to use the thing, there is a tool release button on the side of the head for a damn good reason
All I do is short runs and don't even have enough tool holders to fill one machine much less 2, they hold 25 with one in the spindle so as you might imagine I do a lot of tool setting.
In the 10 years I have been trying to teach myself CNC I have NEVER programed a Z axis work offset LOL
Oh the joys of working in a glorified blacksmith shop....
I may have missed it but you could also flip the part end for end and drill it looked like a symmetric hole pattern.
Hey Bill,
There was some variation in the overall length of the blank. If you watch closely you can see the handle position of the vise change clocking position. I had TAP plastics table saw all the blanks for me. The center to center of the holes is the most important dimension of the block. Good idea.
Cheers,
Tom
Bill De La Vega, I was thinking the same thing. If the halves of the plastic blank are supposed to be mirror images then you could drill 2 holes per blank for each table position. Would speed things up nicely. However, I guess Toms post above suggests they can't be mirror images due to the length of each blank being different. Oh well...
Seeing that the two rows of holes are the same, would it not have been faster to just rotate the plastic 180° and do the other side without having to move the table. So instead of movie the table to 20 positions, you only do 10 times and drill two holes per move.
Hi Andre,
There are some variations in the width and length of the block. Using the same datum corner assures the holes are all the correct spacing and alignment. The hole spacing is the most important feature of these blocks.
Cheers,
Tom
My dad used to do time/motion studies long long ago. I remember some fascinating stories about analyzing that kind of stuff, and how if you did it right people loved you and if you did it wrong people loathed you.
Now on to the blowout on the Starboard. I'd suggest a polarizing filter on the lens, but I got so tired of reading that in previous comments about your indicator problems I'll just leave that suggestion out. Also, it wouldn't work. Instead I will note that we all know material selection should be based on photography first, so you should have originally chosen the black Starboard. Next time, I suppose.
(Although, come to think of it, that really means the best solution is to switch to a brass material, which would probably look quite nice. I assume you'd object due to the (negligible) increase in cost per rack. Cheapskate.)
Hey Doc,
I remember one thing from some of those time and motion studies. The optimal load for human production with a shovel is 22 lbs. This is why there are so many sizes of shovels so they can get 22 lbs of materials with varied densities. That's about all I remember except damn the photography just keep talking.
All the best,
Tom
I'm going apeshit over the endmill in the boring head. That's so simple yet so brilliant. Argh I wish I had thought of that a long time ago. Now that I think of it, the endmill has to be oriented properly or it won't work.
Oh my god. I designed and am presently getting ready to build, a gantry drill press just because I had a ton of accurate countersinking to do on parts that are too big to fit in a mill. I have never seen one of those limiting countersinks. I've searched high and low, and never would have spent the TON of time that went into this drill press had I known. Oh well...
I would think much time would be saved by designing the parts from the beginning for mass production. Like your white board examples for instance. If the hole placement was not that critical for your viles for instance you could make sure holes at each end were same distance from end of the board and each additional hole equal distance away from each other, this way once you set your vice up with stops you could not only bore hole for that hole but opposite end and thereby cut in half your set up time for all the holes on each part. You would not drill a hole and grab another part , but would drill a hole and flip the same part for opposite end to be drilled and then go to the next part. Drilling two holes on same part with one set up instead of just one hole per set up. Of coarse with your project here it maybe that the holes had to be where they were because of some other mechanical process the lab uses and therefore could not be altered for max efficiency to drill these holes.
Hey Seven,
There was some variation in the blank length of the part. The most critical feature of the vial block is the hole center to center distance as they match up with the dispensing equipment and racks. They were symmetric so it the blank length and width was closer I could have swapped them end for end as you mention. The blanks were cut to size by TAP plastics. Good guys but not machinists.
all the best,
Tom
Fastest way would be a nice drill guide, drill/drill stop & pistol drill. my two cents. thanks for the vid.
Headphones don't help. During the introduction the camera mic doesn't pick up your voice without the room echo. Then when you're close to the mic, it blasts out and I have to turn down the volume. Adam got some kind of mic that made a big difference. I'm just suggesting a way to improve your videos, it isn't a criticism...
Hey Tom,
I didn't take it as criticism. I was just yanking your chain a little. My current camera G-15 doesn't support an external mic. So until I get a bit more famous this will probably be the way it is. Sorry if I came across the wrong way.
All the best,
Tom
Oh my!!! Another #$%^&*( light bulb! Moment!!! In all my years as a Tool and Diemaker, Machinist, Gagemaker, Instrument Maker. Never did that, end mill in boring bar, will now!!!! I guess it is equivalent of how many machinists I have seen in the US that use a drill chuck for an edge finder, end mill, drill etc.
+Stephen Hodge Hi Stephen,
Yeah but when you do it you have to hold your mouth like this....... Just kidding. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
There is a small caveat to this excellent trick (I've used it with taper D bits, but never with a 2 flute slot drill like Tom): Particularly if you need it to cut full diameter to the bottom, make sure the common cutting edge at the leading end of the end mill lies parallel with the adjustment axis of the boring head. If it's a three flute endmill, you need to do the same for the cutting edge which extends past the centre.
Hi Gotten,
I learned this trick from an advertisement picture for a milling machine. The guy had a boring head in the machine and low and behold it had an end mill in the hole. I said "hey wait a minute that doesn't look right.......... Well I tried it and crap it does work. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Wireless mic: Amazon.com sells different styles. Good way to beat the echo... :>))
Earbuds. The way to listen to videos.
All the best,
Tom
With an adjustable countersink like this: www.fine-tools.com/famag304553b.jpg on the end mill you could probably do it all in one operation
Hi Lasse,
That would work for smaller holes. These are pretty large and need a flat bottom. I would need custom sizes as the vials are odd sizes. Great suggestion to combine the tools.
Cheers,
Tom
thought a multi cut tool might of been invented all holes cut an counter sunk at the same time tom nah only joking i used to hate working with plastics and wood when he used to convert crew buses to mini taxi buses most of the soft fitting bits were wood plastic rubber hardboard and cloth the rest was steel and alloy
Hey Andy,
We used to have some of those multi spindle drill presses. Did millions of pounds of aluminum castings for skateboards of all things. Pretty fast even by today's standards.
Cheers,
Tom
Fastest way is a CNC mill :)
But then again.....most of us sheep out there will have to wait 40 years to buy a CNC... Fastest? LOL..;)
Or you could just make one :) Like me ;)
Hey Loomis,
I think I misplaced my CNC mill as I cant seem to find it in my shop. You might be surprised how long these would take starting from just a paper drawing even with a cnc mill. Several setups to get all those corners rounded not to mention loading and calibrating all the tools needed and maybe setting up multiple vises. No matter as we are talking manual mill here. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
This video makes me extremely grateful to have a CNC with a vacuum table. Great strategy's here tho.
PS Step 1 make all the blanks the same length ROFL
Pre cut from the plastics pukes. Not worth recutting accurate. Coulda wooda.
Cheers,
Tom
( SUCK FEST ) ?????????? Funny
suckfest really does suck!
Hey Zeeshan,
I can hear the whoosh from here.
Cheers,
Tom
I may have missed it but you could also flip the part end for end and drill it looked like a symmetric hole pattern.
should have read your post first before posting, i was trying to say same thing and that would have cut total drill hole set ups with end stops in half. But I am confident that Mr Bozo ( Toms self inflicted nic..hehe} already knows that but could not use it on this example for whatever reason. But hey... isn't that the way we usually do things...and then after we get done we think about it and realize we could have saved ourselves some more time if we would have just seen the obvious. It seems Tom makes several of these for this company and if he gets future orders may decide if its possible to shave a few more minutes off the bottom line. Shooting video and doing this sort of work I can see would be difficult as your mind is focusing on too many things so over looking stuff or making mistakes would be more likely to happen, which works good for us so we don't have to feel so bad when we play the bozo off camera