Making a face milling cutter from scrap.

Alan's Home Workshop
Alan's Home Workshop
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Published 2023-08-21
I have a pack of obsolete carbide inserts and wanted to find a use for them. It seems they were originally made for a slotting cutter but I decided I could mount them tangentially on a face mill. They owed me nothing and I had some scrap 4140 round bar so why not ?
I kicked this project off with some 3D printed prototypes before progressing to cutting metal. Milling the pockets for the inserts was a bit of a challenge, but I managed to complete the cutter and test it out.
All Comments (17)
  • @howder1951
    Great job Alan, it looks like it will be the go-to tool now. Enjoyed, cheers!
  • @MattysWorkshop
    Gday Alan, fantastic job and not an easy build but you nailed it, great job mate, cheers
  • @ypaulbrown
    well done Alan, cheers from Florida, USA, Paul
  • @ToBeeOrNotToBeHoney
    Aluminum soda cans are super consistent on the thickness and make a reasonable insert for reducing marks on steel. For the copper you might have to skim a little off of them to make them consistent, similar to how people do for custom soft jaws. I would guess that the thickness of the copper is more variable AND that the bend is not as predictable. Cool project!
  • @badjuju6563
    Outstanding job and what a surface finish too. Excellent.
  • @graedonmunro1793
    really great effort Alan! that was one hell of a set up on the rotary table, cheers👍👍
  • @KitCullen-zn4id
    That was a head scratcher in Geometry ,nice work Know tapping compound and I found my missing brade hammer Kit from up north
  • @HM-Projects
    Nice result Alan, the finish looks pretty shmick. Sorry to hear about the neuropathy. Hope it stays stable and manageable. Take care of yourself.
  • @camillosteuss
    looks a lot like grinding job finish to my eye, akin to blanchard grinding... yet its a milling op, so that is some fine finish indeed, and speaking of which, those look very much like a variant of high feed cutting edges, which while suitable for high feed and shallow cut, can actually produce marvelous finish as this has, due to the radiused edge with a relatively good shearing effect with a decent edge quality, which these inserts seem to have... Interesting inserts...
  • @stewartfrye
    Fantastic job, but you didn't mention if you can still buy the inserts?
  • @jackk7030
    G day Alan you inspired a build of mine would like to send you some pictures Regard’s all the best
  • @sparkiekosten5902
    Morning Alan....A quick question. How does it feel to have a bunch of bolts named after you?.....LOL:face-green-smiling: Edit: Nice work on the cutter! Keep up the good work!