Making A Face Mill For The Milling Machine

G'day everyone,
In this video I will be making a face mill for the milling machine. A face mill is a cutter that is used on large milling machines to quickly remove large sections of material. Face mills however are aimed towards large, production machining, and I doubt that any of the off the shelf models would work well on my milling machine. However since I have a small machine shop making one to suit my mill should be possible. I picked up some SEHT inserts for the job. I will be making the body from some cold drawn steel. I hope you enjoy the video.
Timestamps
0;00 - Introduction
3:28 - Design & Solidworks Model
4:28 - Machining The body On The Lathe
7:50 - Machining The Face Mill On The Milling machine
10:35 - Finished Face Mill
11:07 - Testing The Face Mill
#machining #diy

[@cryoine7194]

on behalf of all the engineers and designers "no we will not design things that can be made, get a 9 axis machining center"

[@rallymax2]

Seriously DFM is overrated. Kidding, we should always think about how to make it.

[@Gebsfrom404]

We need a "Tell you what" counter.

[@artisanmakes]

I think I’ve been watching too much king of the hill recently:)

[@Andrew_Fernie]

@@artisanmakes Tell you what, that's not a bad idea.

[@KUSHxKiNG]

Damn it Bobby

[@blackoak4978]

There was definitely a hint of a hwhat in there

[@joshclark44]

Thats actually a really impressive design challenge! You should definitely heat treat/cold blue it to finish it off!

[@InheritanceMachining]

Good stuff, man! I like that you gave it that cool factor and I especially got a kick out of the compound angle setup on the dividing head.

[@artisanmakes]

Cheers man, precision eyeballing like never before :)

[@Self_Evident]

@@artisanmakes: I was curious about how you achieved that setup with the dividing head. So, you used the good ol' eye-crometer? You should show us how it works next time! :)

[@artisanmakes]

Set up with a protractor and roughly swept with a dial indicator. The angles weren’t too important

[@zoltanr15]

I have beed taught that the cutting faces must be offset, to eliminate resonance vibrations. In a case of three cutters, one of them is offset two or three degrees, not 120 equally. And also, you can add a plate behind the inserts to increase, or decrease the angle of attack. I've only made cutting tools for lathes on benchgrinders so far, don't belive me :)

[@bengrogan9710]

That can be useful on specific tooling with many tips - however it complicates matters as each tooth is now taking a different depth of cut on a 3 tooth cutter - 118, 120 and 122 you have introduced through DoC progression a differential spindle load which can increase spindle bearing wear. Bare in mind I'm not saying you are wrong, just that in 3 tip cutters specifically, it is rarely a good plan

[@y2ksw1]

Welcome to the club of tool makers! That one in particular could become a bestseller 😊

[@davidrule1335]

Like you I use a lot of hot rolled steal. I'm a pipe fitter by trade and worked at a fab-shop. Most machinists never use the hot rolled, but we use what we got.

[@G58]

Getting your feeds and speeds correct is very important. Sadly I’ve forgotten almost everything I learned about the subject back in the mists of the last century. But I believe you can find feeds and speeds calculator charts online. Essentially, you need to ensure that the material does not advance beyond what the cutting edges can cope with. There are of course upper and lower spindle speeds, as well as cutter surface speeds for each material. Operating within those tolerances, you set the material advance speed to match. Somehow I seem to recall we used our instincts most of the time. But that was after lots of training, and too many boring hours of standing at the same machine, shift after boring shift. Even though we were making experimental aero engine parts, and there was some variation, plus working in various milling, grinding and turning departments, it was nothing like hobby work. After 6 years I had to escape. Now I have a strange nostalgia for such work, but only for myself, and at my pace. This is a nicely executed tool. Thank you for sharing.

[@willrobertson7778]

That's beautiful! Thank you very much for posting! I'm planning to make a carbide tipped cutter myself for an application where a home-made cutter is much better than off-the-shelf alternatives (milling very deep inside a hole) - watching your video has been a big help!

[@RossMarsden]

I tell you what... that's a pretty impressive tool you made there with the lathe and mill that you have. Seriously, we'll done!

[@TgWags69]

Nice job. One thing I would do is go ahead and grind off the hook that was created by drilling through the back face. Spinning as fast as it does, the flutes will act like a fan and will tend to suck things in where it will be grabbed by those hooks. Whether it's a long chip or an inadvertent shirt sleeve string or shop rag...it's just best not to have anything that will grab like that. Otherwise I like what you did there, nice project.

[@markfryer9880]

Yes, I looked at those hooks and was a bit uneasy about them. Now if I am uneasy about something, then that means that it is dangerous and should be dealt with. We shall see what Artisan does or says.

[@mftmachining]

Excellent job, very impressive.

[@monkeysausageclub]

Plus there is the challenge of making your own and the experience you'll gain. Priceless.

[@7duser10]

"Every engineer please make stuff that can actually be made" - 10 hours later: has to machine clearance pockets into the part to be able to drill the insert retaining screw holes 😂 (Also I enjoy your content).

[@artisanmakes]

That was factored into the design like it is within most facemills. Cheers

[@Andrew_Fernie]

Nice job 👍. You will be getting really good at vacuuming as a bonus ! These things are just the messiest tool in the workshop.

[@fakerfake1]

This is a really great home shop project, good job! Just a suggestion from a guy who learned on mini mills before moving up to bigger mills. If you make cutters made for larger material removal rates (such as a face mill) it really helps with rigidity if you make it’s shank the spindle shank so that you don’t have to put it in a collet. I know that’s not easy, and not as modular if you move up to a bigger machine in the future, but it really does make a huge difference in the cut. Still great work though!

[@billy19461]

So satisfying to build your own tools!

[@gdmountain]

Love the cross slide power feed :)

[@Tom-xn7zc]

Great video, these kind of projects are a fantastic learning experience! Only thing I'm worried about is the stem/arbor to body transition. It seems like you've machined a groove instead of a nice large radius fillet, making it a breaking/failure point which could send the kinda hefty body flying through the shop.

[@charlvanniekerk8009]

Now this was awesome! The results are incredible and for machines like yours, as you said, its really a game changer!

[@MrReichennek]

The aluminum inserts are definitely helping the lower powered machine thanks to the high cut angles.

[@TheDistur]

That's cool as heck. You've really got these hobby machines dialed in!

[@Bloodray19]

You have absolutely outdone yourself this time. That part looks and works fabulously. Nice job!

[@harlech2]

I think the first inserts would be good for cleaning up a "rugged" piece... maybe something rusted or that has scale on it... stuff that would normally eat a 'sharp' carbide insert. Anyways, great video and project.

[@harmlesscreationsofthegree1248]

Outstanding! Love the compact single piece design 🙂

[@bulletproofpepper2]

Cheers, great project. Thanks for sharing.

[@peirossmallhomemachineshop5364]

Thanks for sharing this experience. That gives me the idea to try myself.

[@rogeronslow1498]

Nice shell mill and nice video. I liked the Solidworks part also.

[@sy.hasanfateminik3841]

Very excellent and practical. Thank you❤️👍🙏

[@ogaugeclockwork4407]

The high rake aluminium inserts do tend to work well in the smaller lower horsepower machines.

[@Andrew_Fernie]

They are surprisingly durable too. Better than I expected when using them on steel.

[@Arthur-ue5vz]

I'm glad your design worked for you! Bravo! 😊

[@rexmundi8154]

I decent band saw is not that expensive and it is hands down the fastest way to get stock down to near finish size. I can’t imagine having a shop without one.

[@joewhitney4097]

Great build, great design and awesome video. Thanks for sharing.

[@chiefus3536]

you would be chuffed alright. that is a great tool. It must feel good to have the ability to design and manufacture your own tools. I am very impressed.

[@rockcrusher4636]

Great stuff, one small tip, you should always feed against the fast jaw, that gives maximum rigidity. Cheers.

[@Blueshirt38]

With your pretty meager setup, your results are very impressive. Great looking tool.

[@jackdawg4579]

I'm a bit leary of face mills at the moment, I've blown the gearbox on my mill twice, both times using face mills, both times took 2 months to get repaired under warranty. I'm sticking with endmills for now.

[@frostbitevinnie]

Sharp inserts like that work well on titanium as well. A real bonus for set ups that are not rigid

[@kentuckytrapper780]

I'm impressed!!

[@alessandrosuppini943]

Well done! 👍

[@injoelsgarage3934]

Very nicely done! You made it seem simple.

[@CorollaGTSSRX]

Everytime you say "I tell you what", I envision Hank Hill from King of the Hill :)

[@jenbadabam8801]

I'll tell you what: that's some pretty impressive chips! 😁

[@homemadetools]

Good work as usual. We shared this video on our homemade tools forum this week 😎

[@t0mn8r35]

Good project. Good editing and good narration.

[@davidrule1335]

I like your design, it has got me thinking. That's a stubby shell cutter, I wonder just how stubby it could be made. I have a full size mill and most jobs I get are to big for the mill requiring me to move the part and re-set it up.

[@HM-Projects]

Wow looks really good, store quality 👌

[@Group-Five-Industries]

Awesome tooling!!

[@ralphpavero7760]

You did I hell of a job on that great work

[@JackT9595]

Well, I'll tell you what! That looks pretty good :)

[@JETHO321]

Hank Hill approves.

[@russtuff]

Congratulations, that's a great result!

[@timothybonnin7051]

Before you used it, you really should've set it for rebuild parameters. Nice workmanship! Great hands on learning!

[@graedonmunro1793]

turned out well !!

[@elluisito000]

Let's face the fact that this is a very cool project 😎

[@billsmith5166]

Lots of geometry there. Well done.

[@colinferderer5799]

I tell ya what, that's a nice looking face mill

[@nadam35]

man you did a good job on this project. real good job.

[@user-tw9io9nz2m]

Awesome project!

[@user-dz1nm6ed4y]

Отличная работа!

[@dirtboy896]

Those high rake inserts are what came with with my Tormach superfly fly cutter

[@trashes_to_treasures]

Man, that tool is just beautiful! Congrats! The only thing I hope is that you won’t advance your knowledge to a point at that you’d build your own band saw… 😳😅

[@rseletto]

Great design and build. Job well done 👍

[@Horus9339]

Really well done. A nice new tool. Have a great weekend.

[@johanneslaxell6641]

I am not sure which type of hotrolled steel you used, but aluminium inserts and stainless/CrMo/highspeed steel gets tricky. Or that is my experience at least... If I may I would like to encourage you to try the Korloy HA PC9030 inserts. In my opinion they work all the way to ~55Hrc and with non ferrous like plastics. As they are sharp they also work well with less rpm and horsepower. If one goes "all in, full speed" there might be better choises, but with possibility to adapt and slow down they work surprisengly (?) well...

[@iteerrex8166]

Look great, performs great, awesome design and build 👍

[@adriankohli4870]

Top Job, Sir 👌

[@peter360adventures9]

Awesome build.

[@fredfarnackle5455]

Nice job!👍😎

[@strawbs556]

You could probably use those other inserts where finishing isn't critical for the surface or try your hand at making a 45 deg lathe tool from them. As for the depth of cut for the non aluminum cutters, a slower feed rate should allow you to take more. A power feed on the table axis' should make it much more do able if you have one. But I'm guessing that's been put on the back burner. Hope this helps.

[@gyulatimko2075]

This tool came out very amezing! Godd job!

[@CRILIKk]

Impressive 👌🏼

[@robbos8486]

I tell you what, that's a pretty nifty face mill!! LOL

[@kurttaz]

Absolutely 💯 mate 👍

[@MattysWorkshop]

Gday, you have nailed it, bloody awesome build, the mill handles it with no problems at all, very impressive mate, cheers

[@paulthomas3782]

Fantastic tool you will get a lot of use out of it thanks for sharing cheers.

[@pawekowalski7469]

Great job 👌👍

[@woozhi9218]

6:36 disposable rag exactly the one we had at home.

[@mwistrach7809]

Year a very interesting video and a very advanced project you’ve realised. Well done! Please continue with content like that.

[@KathrynLiz1]

Brilliant..... might just make one of those... 🙂

[@Festivejelly]

Fair play mate good design and good execution. It must be so satisfying to be able to make your own tooling to the specs that you want.

[@asfimrds]

As good as always! Can You please share the angles it will be a great tool for my work shop.

[@troyam6607]

brilliant!

[@metaphysicalretardation]

That router bit was a real champ hogging through all that material, albeit with the help of your precision.

[@warwickmark]

Fantastic, thanks

[@garyshirinian]

Very impressive.

[@joecordero1699]

"Just because it looks like it can be made does not mean it actually can." should be a plaque on every engineer's workplace.

[@artisanmakes]

If only

[@kallibrand4106]

A really nice job . It seems it is the way to go since the stuff being sold in the stores are just not up to the task .

[@zanechristenson3436]

Nice work man

[@williamweesner1191]

Dammitboi, that’s slick!

[@amalfi460]

Nice work definitely put a gun blue on it

[@R.W.89]

You could make an identical tool and have the tougher inserts for roughing and the better ones for finnishing.

[@shrumsolutions879]

I make a small face mill similar in design to this one but it uses a slightly different insert tcgt. I would love for you to give one a try and see how it compares to the segt. Awesome work by the way.

[@Gee2316]

This is sick bro. Ive been looking for a channel like yours on the weekend when im not working

[@glennwright9747]

Have you considered making the R8 shank as part of the tool? It may help with rigidity and concentricity

[@michelecrown2426]

Very impressive Great job.

[@CraigsWorkshop]

That's a beautiful facemill, and your mill is absolutely chewing through the material. Loved the gold chips. And as you said (paraphrasing), looks like a bought one! :)

[@Rustinox]

Very interesting project and nice results.

[@LockdownElectronics]

Nice job!

[@platin2148]

Sounds like a Upgrading the Sieg to 1.5kw vid is upcoming :) Still nice I do run a Opti 20vl with a 3kw Servo with a 6 Insert Boehlerit Shell Mill with up to 3 mm depth.

[@ddoherty5956]

Tidy job 👍