Aluminum Standoffs Machined in the CNC Lathe

I machined a small batch of aluminum parts using our ‪@MilltronicsUSAInc‬ ML16 cnc lathe. This was the first time using some drilling tools as well as a new Tungaloy parting blade. This job allowed me to get some more Fusion 360 training and practice running a part I would have more commonly machined using all manual machines.
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[@BruceBoschek]

Seeing a small production run like this makes it easy to understand the power of CNC. Thanks.

[@hdfanboy]

The collet holders you have for your drills are the best way to hold small drills like that. We use basically the same setup except we use ER32 collets for consistency since our live tool holders are ER32 as well. For our larger drills which have 16mm shanks and above we use custom made sleeves which then mount direct in the tool blocks.

[@chucksmalfus9623]

Funny story Adam, I had a machine shop teacher in the 1960s that would stand behind you while you were running the lathe and when you removed the part if you took your hand off the chuck key without removing it he would slap you in the back of the head. To this day when I see anyone take their hand off a chuck key I get a twinge , funny part is it’s even on a chuck that doesn’t rotate like yours on the tapping table….😂. Keep up the great videos sir.

[@BruceBoschek]

Yep!

[@pekkahelminen7801]

Test alcohol for tapping holes in aluminum. Works like charm. Even brakecleaner works well. Stops the taps from galling up from the aluminum. Dont know why it works. But there is a nice bonus of easy cleanup for parts that are to be welded.

[@pekkahelminen7801]

..works even better with blind holes.

[@hl8256]

I came across an article that said brake cleaner and welding is a bad combination. It produces phosgene gas, which was used as a nerve gas.

[@Harrstein]

That's only with some brake cleaners. Most modern ones don't have the chlorine(?, think it was that) in it anymore

[@royreynolds108]

@@hl8256 Nonchlorinated brake cleaner only for welding.

[@emilgabor88]

I always use alcohol in the shop . On the lathe , on the mill , on the angle grinder, always drink some… 😂😂😂

[@proberts34]

Hey Adam. I like the mix of old school manual work along with the CNC work you do on the channel. You have an extremely strong foundation of knowledge, and you can leverage that to do some of your small-batch work on the CNC machines. Keep up the great work. 👍 Over the years that you've been doing manual machining, you've built up a wealth of skills, expertise, and knowledge, and it's great to see you apply those skills in your videos. At the same time, CNC work is the future of a lot of shop machining, particularly when it comes to small batch jobs like these aluminum standoffs. It's great to watch you develop those CNC skills. Thanks for sharing this aspect of your life with us. 🙂

[@Abom79]

Thanks for your comment.

[@kevinreardon2558]

I can't believe I've been following you all the way back to 2018. I remember you getting a 3d printer which was a good starting point for CNC. Sure I love the shaper, but those CNC machines are great.

[@horseshoe_nc]

A thread forming tap (roll tap) would have been perfect for that run of parts. I'm enjoying watching your journey into the CNC world.

[@RobertGracie]

Nothing quite like an Abom79 Video to watch in 4K with Surround Sound!

[@billdoodson4232]

Sounds like you need a rag soaked in some coolant to sniff at, at the same time, to get the full effect. 😊

[@petersantoro5323]

You are progressing well in the CNC world your depth of knowledge helps you excel and I enjoy your content

[@Abom79]

I appreciate that!

[@dominicwroblewski5832]

My hat is off to you for you journey into CNC machining. Learning any kind of new way of doing things is really challenging no matter what the field you are in.

[@tomp5377]

I enjoy how such a small part can have such a large impact on many people- even with the weldors and suppliers. Nice production run! Thanks for sharing the story behind it too.

[@mfx1]

Someone needs to be asking why it fails enough to be an issue and why they chose aluminium in the first place.

[@gregrupar135]

KZbin has been good to you. I remember all manual work

[@zorzyk6790]

When I worked in the production of lathes, it was no mercy, a giant radial drill, an m6 tap and a blind hole. No clutch. In the beginning, I broke things like that on a regular basis and you had to chisel it out and then plug it and drill and thread it again. I got so good at breaking a tap once in a thousand holes. Practice makes perfect.

[@tonyturner487]

Amazing work showing those who are oblivious to how things operate mechanically and explaining to them how something so simple can LITERALLY shutdown an entire airport luggage system. Hopefully they see this and walk away with a better understanding of why they’re being delayed from getting their Starbucks on time because they were stuck finding luggage.

[@wildironmedia]

We often use a rigid one-piece bushing directly in the tool block and grind a flat spot on the drill and engage that through the tool block with your set screw. Obviously having hundreds of of one piece bushings gets expensive. We have about 50 of them for common drill sizes. The ER calling system the way you're using it is a really practical solution that many people use. What's good about the ER solution is you can use all the same tooling in your milling machines and your manual equipment. Lots of shops just have ER 16s and 32 and they do the majority of their tool holding in those two systems across all their equipment. Love your channel Best wishes

[@TheDefeatest]

I use ER collets in solid bushings for all kinds of drilling and taping. The odd time they can slip, but for years they have worked well for me in mostly stainless too. Dorian tools makes solid bushings. Also you can probably already have a groove/parting tool that will take all kinds of side load and is really the best of both worlds for grooving and parting off. 1 in tooling can let you part off 1.25 in bar with no hole going thru.

[@erichoff7926]

Marvelos use of the cnc and great video. Keep up the fine high quality work!

[@peteaaron8993]

Adam you are doing fine. When I first went to CNC I thought I would never go back to manual. I recently picked up a 1943 Kearney and Treacker horizontal mill for quick roufging and other unusual setups. Point is manual or CNC they are all good tools to be used.

[@Vankel83]

That's how you hold spot drills, drills, taps, reamers. I use ER16 and ER32 collets. If you have thru coolant available, pump it right thru. Might have to take set crew out of center of holder. The bushings are better suited for boring bars. The set screws align with the flat to put on correct centerline level.

[@angelramos-2005]

Very successful job,Adam.Thank you.

[@MikeBaxterABC]

10:51 When i was in the production shop ALL the CNC Lath I used ran 20 foot long feed bar pushers, 90% of the jobs started on full 20 foot long bars. We always feed out on the Parting tool!, ON your new Parting Tool we'd feed out RIGHT where the "Tungaloy" Logo is, on yours!!! :) How I'd do it on this one is after parting, and AFTER the Parting Tool ai back at home position, advance again, to thee length you want to pull out and minus 2 1/2 or 3", Then PAUSE. Then pull out the part against the "Tungaloy" Logo and close jaws ... The return to home position, and PROGRAM END Then check if it's right (It will be very close) , modify the last action before Pause, to correct ... and your DONE!!:)

[@MrBrick96]

We use our own made bushings as drillholders. OD matching the ID of the block and a sholder for contact on the Blockface ID for yor drillbit. The drillbit is hold with setscrews. Simple and easy to make and it works.

[@stephenmeeks684]

Good program, good plan, good parts.

[@eastcoastwatch672]

You could mount a “CLEAR VIEW SCREEN” on the window of the sliding guard for perfect viewing especially for videoing operations for your channel.👍

[@kindabluejazz]

He likes to get multiple angles for his shots, from above, behind, mounted on the tool holder etc, not just a simple flat plane view from one side.

[@TrueMachine2]

Nice work Adam!

[@jonasbartels1716]

Great video, you did a great job! We also make aluminium parts at our work, with sometimes really small threads (from 2-10mm in diameter mostly). In my apprenticeship I learned cutting in aluminium with Petroleum (should be kerosene in american English, sorry I only know the german word), because the Petroleum seperates the aluminium shavings from the tap and prevents microwelding of the aluminum onto the Highspeed Steel-taps, also reducing the amount of material left on the tap, while creating a really great finish on the threads. Coolant also works, we simply use the coolant from our CNC milling machine. About the tapping arm moving on its own: You might create a holder with a magnet in the base, with a pin on the top just like the tap holders you insert into the arm. Then you just fixate the arm on the table without the arm swinging anywhere.

[@simonking-zb5ok]

HAPPY EASTER TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ADAM

[@robdixon945]

Thanks for the show Adam 🍻 🇦🇺

[@mdharper]

For setting a pullout stop for your stock, make a sub program you can drop into any program using your rough turning block as the stop and give it a tool offset that your unlikely to commonly use, like T0132. Make it .02 past you G54. As you change your G54 for pullout length, your pullout stop always moves with and leaves .020 to face away. Hope this helps.

[@cncit]

Yes, collet chucks work best for drill bits on a cnc lathe.

[@pedub2222]

Hey Adam, long time fan, I know your just learning cad- cam but a plunge roughing cycle might be good for that tool, I've been machining for 40 years, mostly turning and still love it, my advice to you is learn G code along with the cad cam, it helps to know what the program is really doing. I will be ordering a new t shirt from you soon, the 1st one is wore out, lasted a long time. keep up the good work!

[@pedub2222]

Oh yeah, I use the ER collet all the time they work well, as far as the stock stop that would be a good little G code practice program, I can show you, it's just a few lines of code. let me know if you want me to show you.

[@MechanicalAdvantage]

@@pedub2222 While knowing g-code is handy, the simulation in CAM shows you exactly what the tool will be doing. We considered using a grooving tool, but it still left cusps on the taper. So we decided to give this method a try to see the results and how that parting tool liked a load like this for future reference.

[@jacobbuckley8232]

Man that lathe definitely speeds things up!

[@terrywildman3362]

A fusion grooving routine with some constants is much faster to program and will put much less side load on part off tool And the stop is a pass through is easy Both can be saved as templates so you don’t have to rewrite everytime The retract at feed is a drop down in passes tab Click three dots to save as rapid evertime

[@michaelwebber4033]

I jumped back on fusion 360 after about a 6 month break. Because I needed to use my router. Anyway once I remembered everything I managed it.

[@fredhoyt6900]

Does the part need to break and act as a shear point to help prevent something else from breaking or could it be made less likely to break and need replacement?

[@kevinknight470]

Too many things that are manufactured are never field tested and the problems show up in use. 😃

[@fredhoyt6900]

@@kevinknight470 Much of my focus has been problem solving systems that can jam. The need for many spare aluminum parts that often fail and need to be welded in place, at some dificulty, in a system to handle baggage, odd shapes, sizes and weights, got my attention. I would like to know more. 🤔

[@tumbleddry2887]

Your footage was good...pretty hard to get closeups with everything that's going on...and shields probably don't help all that much (shield gets full of coolant and blurs the view). Great video and project. Thanks

[@lawrencesherman8435]

Did I miss something? Wasn't there a threading pass after the second drilling operation? I thought I saw that in the fusion design.

[@clayman1000x]

What is with the extra movements after the face cut.

[@machinists-shortcuts]

Using a VNMG shape insert would allow you to produce the whole outside profile with one tool.

[@nicholaspayne349]

Would be cool to have a keyed chuck mounted in a custom block on the lathe

[@Steviegtr52]

Hi Adam I noticed the drilling was in steps. Would that be a bit harsh pushing a drill in steps when drilling a hard material. Or was that just how you set the program. Steve

[@DonOblivious]

ER collets work. You can look into a straight shank ER collet system but I'm not really sure that's required for your machine and the work that you do. Most of my CNC exposure was in a Swiss-style lathe shop and Swiss-style lathes are.....diffferent. We had statistical tracking software that would tell us when to dispose of a drill bit because while the parts were still within tolerance, they were varying in dimension too much. Dispose of, not resharpen. Swiss-style lathes are something else...or your machine

[@daviddogruel7851]

Nice production run. I inherited a Flexarm A-32 at work and am looking for budget tap collets for it. Are there significant differences in quality between the OEM and aftermarket tap collets, and are they standardized among similar pneumatic tapping machines?

[@Kolokotrones]

Does the milltronics have a part catcher accessory like some other cnc machine centers have?

[@DLRPyro1]

Where are the standoffs failing? At the weld point or the actual standoff?

[@mikedyson7330]

Could you have programed the cnc lathe to tap the parts.

[@duncanbell1425]

Adam, Quick question, you said you first made one in the manual lathe, time wise how long manually and then 2m 48 in the CNC we now we had a retraction time issue but over all how much time is saved on a batch of ten on the CNC against manually lathe procedure.

[@clarenceburton9654]

Awesome 😎

[@csnelling4]

Thanks Adam 👏👏👏👏👏👍🍺🍺

[@__Ned_Flanders__]

You should get tap holder what you can put in your cnc lathe turret so you don't have to do them manually 👍

[@machinists-shortcuts]

With a clutch.

[@__Ned_Flanders__]

@@machinists-shortcuts yes

[@robertburns2415]

Something I do when I have to tap a hole all the way to the bottom I'll put paraffin in it the hole. The paraffin pushes the chips out through the flutes

[@terrywildman3362]

Not trying to be a know it all just 25 years CNC and fusion from day one it was released Don’t be afraid of tapping on lathe Yes ER straight shank adapter is sop

[@angelarichards3588]

Can you not adjust the angle of your parting tool so that the ,tit, is removed from the finished part and left on the rod that will be faced? You are brave taking on all this new knowledge. Xx

[@dx63]

I think the hydraulic version of flex arm that you have at home are better.

[@SecondFloorOutdoors-gj8dt]

Consider using a VCMT/VNMG insert to turn, it'll allow you to turn down that 45° angle, much more efficient than using that parting blade. Maybe drill thru with the letter F drill to eliminate the cutoff tit? Don't know if that would be acceptable for the part application. ER collets are how we hold 95% of our drills, taps, reamers, endmills.

[@DrunkenBobDole]

Thats exactly how you hold small drills in a CNC

[@paulwoolner9047]

There is no side load on that cut, your plunging and moving the tool!

[@michaellee6168]

You know if the aluminum is not steong enough. Maybe grade 5 Titanium would be better for durability sake.

[@zviper]

If you want to tap on the lathe use a thread mill. If you crash one its smaller than the threads being cut and will just fall out of the hole.

[@davidt8438]

I don’t know much about CNC machining but the one thing I do know is that, you can only break so many rules until it costs you. Ruining tools, ruining parts, ruining the machine or an injury.

[@alexatkinson1023]

Would a different rake parting insert get rid of that tit on the part? Doesn’t matter if one is left on the stock if you’re facing right away anyways.

[@clintchapman4319]

You should have tapped that thread in the CNC... Don't be skeered!

[@ianmurray3820]

Repetitive processes are exactly what cnc is all about .!! Set up and cad work takes up too much time for A single part, unless it’s a really complicated part with multiple operations .!!! plus once you know your way around cad and cam there’s no skill in the actual machining..!!! “ be careful Adam.! How much information can one head retain…!!???👍💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

[@ZEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO00]

Did Abom say........ tit ???????

[@grazela88]

For your stop manually type at the beginning of your program N999T0101 GOX.1 Z.025 M0 G0X11.0 Z8.0 M1

[@MF175mp]

Problem is it gets lost after revising the program with CAM. You can make a manual NC insert in F360 so the snippet gets posted even if you have to do changes.

[@stuartschaffner9744]

Congratulations on your small CNC project! Your skills on your new equipment are showing maturity as you adapt to what tools you have, without breaking any.

[@satamanschmidt3428]

More likely not breaking any that we've seen.

[@joopterwijn]

Adam, for a clear picture in the housing with coolend you probably could take a air nozzle and put an air stream on the camera lens. Only the sound is then unusable (contant his).

[@AmiPurple]

Thank you Abom for a great video. Appreciate you putting these on KZbin for all of us

[@judocaADC]

You are a highly gifted machinist. But your greatest assets are your honesty, precision, and ability to communicate a process to a novice. You communicate the intricacies of the process, even when the errors might not be evident to the viewer. That's why I never get tired of watching your videos. Another fascinating thing I truly appreciate is your cleaning of particles from contact surfaces. You articulate extremely well and would be a perfect narrator for documentaries.

[@Abom79]

Thank you for your comment.

[@Peter_Riis_DK]

The flex arm could break the tap as well. Strange excuse.

[@rickylowe9302]

What's the point of the cnc not tapping it ?

[@KJ6EAD]

If you ever have to run another batch of these, you'll have an opportunity to further optimize the process. I didn't like the abusive use of the parting tool so I hope that doesn't happen again.

[@davidgibson6909]

You could also use a VNMG to profile the od with the 45° at the partoff location and save time and your tungaloy.

[@fricknjeep]

hi nice tool john

[@briceman7377]

A series of plunge cuts to debulk the chamfer with a single diagonal pass to take the tips off isn't unusual with that tool.

[@rickybradby1312]

I'd reckon your dnmg turning tool, would of done that rear angle quicker than that parting off blade tool.

[@larryrobinson7492]

Setting up a part stop is easy to manually add to your program, just set it like any tool for the X and Z then just program something like G00T0303 G00X.75Z.015M00 Pull the part against it, then G00X10.0Z10.0 G00T0300 M00 not sure how much room you have to move in that little lathe but, it's very handy to get used to doing some manual programming for quick edits or adding stuff like that. That whole part could easily be manually programmed pretty quickly and it's good practice. I understand the fact also of learning the software, I also do that but I like to make sure I stay sharp with quick program edits at the machine for dialing in chamfers for nicely deburred parts, etc. Love the CNC content, Outstanding.

[@Grantherum]

that was one weird drill cycle... never seen it hesitate at several points for a second on the way down... pulsing yes, but not full on stopping over and over through the cycle.

[@kenhawkins1033]

When did this kid start getting silver whiskers?

[@gmwally4537]

Good job Adam. You just need to have more confidence in yourself and your machine

[@mjshorty19]

That parting blade didn't sound too happy with that cutting

[@MechatronCNC-HVM]

ER collets work great for 99% of jobs. Don't worry about the holding power, they are great and convenient 👍

[@zponka]

more CNC please!

[@BerndFelsche]

Nice video to show how you're learning CNC. I have a bone to pick with those who designed baggage handling equipment like that! All I can do is hope that they have learned from their mistakes and that nobody else copies that design to create more unnecessary problems.

[@MikeBaxterABC]

25:30 The Cadillac of Shop Air Compressors!! :) The Kaeser Air Tower!!! Rotary screw compressors run quiet. take up little space, and have awesome CFM! This one also features, integrated refrigeration dryer. Super Dry air the best for air painting!

[@sandrosfc]

11:14 After cutting, move the bedame away at z (as far as it touches the material) and x-20, x-30 (see how the material touches the back of the bedame) and then M00 (temporary stop of the program), touch the material, and then in the program move x and z to a safe exchange point and M99 to restart the program. That's what I do at my job

[@TomTalley]

Good one. Suggestion. Mount a battery terminal cleaning brush in one of the holes in your table...when your through tapping, stick it down on that brush and figure out which way to turn it to clear the chips..leave it there...brush will hold the tap...easy peasey....😊

[@bernardwill7196]

Happy Easter to you and your family.

[@bdove7939]

Thanks for the great videos. No matter what tool you use, you are still an honest, skilled craftsman.

[@1911wood]

Good show👍

[@weathington803]

the great thing about using fusion is that the program will always be there to make more when needed,,,

[@Ddabig40mac]

I'm new to lathe operations, too. I will try that tool position trick next week. I can see how a few short lines of code at the end of the program would work.

[@corndog6700]

Next up, time for a 4th and 5th axis rotary and trunnion. The learnibg curve is steep.

[@NSResponder]

If those parts keep breaking off, shouldn't they use a different material for the replacements?

[@straylightc4b]

A re-engineer might be prohibitively expensive ($1m) if the item fails, yet a repair costs a little ($1k) to fix once a month. Not ideal but that's how things go sometimes.

[@kevinknight470]

Yep, for the part that Adam made and the arm that it welds to, good point. 😃

[@nathanielmcginnes8592]

Might be a designed fail part to save rest of the machine

[@wireedm1]

It wasn't an issue in this situation, but something to keep in mind on a CNC lathe turret...when you have two or more drills next to each other and you need to drill a deep hole with one of them, there's a chance the adjacent drill in the turret can hit the chuck jaws. You might want to make it a habit of putting drills, center drills, etc., on every other turret station to keep them from hitting the chuck. Always enjoy your vids, keep up the great work.

[@MuellerNick]

7 passes for that recess?! The outer contour is just one single pass.

[@MikeBaxterABC]

12:14 ... Try it with a 20 foot bar!! :) .. We had that issue, and did the the exact same thing just set a max RPM that didn't vibrate, usually under 4000 RPM. It barley effected cycle time, AND frankly the spindle bearings? Will last forever with the lower RPM :)

[@tmodeldriver]

tmodeldriver Regarding Chuck's comment about his teacher slapping students in the back of the head for leaving the chuck key in the chuck. My instructor would plant a boot in our backside and walk away without comment. The other thing that would earn you a boot was leaving the tailstock ram with nothing in it. The tailstock always has something plugged in it whether being used or not. When left empty it is an excellent place for stray chips to hide and cause trouble later on. On you-tube I see this violated often. Makes me cringe. As always Adam, I loved your video. Thanks.

[@MikeBaxterABC]

21:10 NEVER liked Tapping on the CNC, breaking taps off was common. We ALWAYS used a thread cutting tool, but on small threads under 1/2" ??? It's not really practical, if I had the Flex Arm Taping machine on site??? I'd use it too! :)

[@vinatron8075]

Don't know if this helps or if anyone has brought this to your attention already. There's a function in fusion 360 called NC passthrough which allows you to add things like that to your code. However it requires that the post processor manufacturer implimets this function I have manually added it to some that I use that didn't have it. for things like pop-up messages and running a pneumatic vice on a CNC mill at the college. If you would like help with that let me know I'd love to help share what I learned.