Tormach Tension Compression Tapping Head

[@bluehandsvideo]

I've been researching info on using the same tapping head. I guess I didn't bother watching this when it came out since I didn't have the head. I should probably check to see if I have extra taps before I start. LOL Yep.....I jumped too when the 2nd one broke. :) Thanks for the vid Craig.

[@marknano]

I flinched when the tap broke the 2nd time. I really thought it would clear it. Great vids man. keep it up.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Mark Nano - Thanks Mark! I was flinching also. Taps are cheap though. If it was $50 endmill I would have been crying. LOL I'm still thinking It was a bug in Fusion 360. The toolpath showed it clearing.

[@GregsGarage]

Catching up on some older vids... Going to use my tapping head for the first time today. I'll def be watching the feed height!!! Thanks again for sharing all the successes and challenges.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

LOL How did it go?

[@GregsGarage]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 Success! I tapped a handful of 1/4-20 threads in 1/2" aluminum with no trouble. Now I need to test out my 3mm tap and see how that goes. It might be a bit more of a challenge since the tool is much smaller and the thread is longer... Fingers crossed!!!

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

@@GregsGarage Nice! Good luck!

[@mainstreetmachineworks651]

Always enjoy watching your videos and your gateway through machining, inspired me toget a mini mill. I was actually going to ask you if you had any extra parts leftover? Preferably the base, column, and what about that enclosure? I would be glad to take them off your hands!

[@TRCa51]

I know what's next on my list of things to buy! Great video showing a true learning curve! Keep the great videos coming Craig!

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Tim Robel - Thanks Tim! Yeah, I think you will really like it. I think when you make a video after your experienced at something, you tend to skip over things. Will do!

[@dougp3841]

Man that hurt to see both of those taps get thrashed! I feel your pain! Is that just A36 hot rolled that you are drilling or 1018? Get yourself a few 7/32" cobalt machine screw length drills (readily available on EBay). I use 135 degree split points and have found that you can easily stay within a 0.007" location tolerance without spot drilling on low carbon steel. I run 1500 RPM on the low pulley and feed at 5.5 IPM...no pecking up to 1/2" either. If you feel that you need to peck do it at no less than 1/4". You can get a lot of holes out of those cobalt drills.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Doug P - Yeah, just glad they weren't carbide roughers. LOL . Just hot rolled. I think I will switch to cold rolled though. Too much work to clean it up. Thanks for the tip! I will have to try them out. No pecking? I will have to give that a try on my next batch. I was at 1700 RPM and 6 IPM. Without the pecking, that brings 10 parts down to 3.5 Min. Sweet!

[@dougp3841]

I have lots of broken carbide around here. Get the TiAlN coated bits for a few dimes more and you will be surprised at how the steel drill likes butter. If you feel like pecking just to break the chip up don't peck anymore often than every 1/4".

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Doug P - Yeah, I am cutting out the pecking now. Thanks! Still not sure what to do about that rumbling/shaking when the bit starts in. Is that normal?

[@jasondhughes]

+Craigs Machine Shop- Great video Craig. I love to see the mishaps since I make a ton of them. I hate the polished videos that make it seem like it all went perfect. I think if you spot drill first, you will eliminate or greatly reduce the rumbling. It's another tool change, but a drill has a difficult time trying to center it's self.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Jason Hughes - Thanks Jason. Cool, I'll start putting in all the other mistakes that I cut out. lol Yeah, I was thinking about center drilling. I guess I need to get the power draw bar installed. A #4 center drill would be perfect for it.

[@paulgorsky5517]

In the Gcode, on the tapping G84 line, make sure that you have a R value. Also make sure there is no G99 for this tool. If you do, that is what is keeping you tap so low. Should be a G98 example: X1.Y-3. G99 (should be G98) Z1. G84 Z-.750 F20. R0.1 X2. X3. G80

[@CNC4XR7]

Machining Lessons aren't Cheap, Been there done that hurts worse when there brand new. Nice setup On my list. Love the slow mo

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+CNC4XR7 - luckily taps are cheap. Thanks!

[@MyRadDesign]

Doh! Hate to see such nice tooling snap right out of the gate! I would suggest much deeper pecks than .005, the idea is to allow the chips to be cleared from the hole. That small of pecks just leads to work hardening, making your tooling to get dull faster. I would suggest .100" pecks. Also, the RPM should be much less. Making too light of cuts is something that people do when starting out in machining, later they find that cutting more aggressively can actually be easier. (up to a point, obviously). The first time you run a program, it is highly recommended to "Cut Air", I.E. nothing in the spindle. Check for obvious things that will lead to tooling crashes. It is also a good idea to program in a G1 Z3.000 followed by M0 after each tool change which will bring the tool 3" above the workpiece, then pause for cycle start before continuing. This allows you to place a 123 block on the workpiece to verify that the work offsets have been set correctly. Once you get a program fully checked out, you could comment these checks out if you wish. I use Mach 3 on my PCNC 770, which offers a speed compensation feature which I use on every new program to slow the machine moves down to a speed which I have a chance to react quick enough to catch crashes before they happen. I am sure Path Pilot offers this as well. Thanks for the video.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+arlen raasch - Yeah, only one hole tapped. :-(. Yeah, I have been hearing more about the hardening thing. I didn't realize the heat from the bit could cause that. .100? Wow, that's 1/2 way through the cover. I will give it a try. I haven't had much luck using G-Wizard. It says 1800 RPM at 8 IPM. I may model a part with like 20 holes in it and try different recipes and see which works best. I guess I am lazy to cut air sometimes. I guess I would have if it was a $50 endmill. LOL Great Idea on the 123 block! I will have to try that. Yeah, Pathpilot has Maxvel which is a slider that reduces the RPM and IPM at the same time. You can control them independently also. I need to get a touch screen. Trying to stop it with the mouse is hard. Thanks for the tips!

[@halfstep67]

I think if I flinched just a little sooner, I could have prevented that second tap from breaking. In the G-codes, set the pucker factor to 0 and that will help a lot.

[@twofortytwo]

Great video, I learned a few things for sure, great to know what the 770 is capable of, I am not sure if I want a 770 or 1100 myself. Any reason you didn't chamfer the holes before tapping?

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Thanks Mike! I would probably go for the 1100 if I could do it over. But I do production work in steel and the extra HP would be nice. The parts are low dollar, high volume so it's not worth it to chamfer.

[@turtlecrawler]

The feed height sets your retraction , . This is easy to edit in the Gcode at the machine as well, its the R value in the first line of the tapping code.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Mike Cloutier - Thanks for the info!

[@MyRadDesign]

Craig: If you want your holes straight and accurately located, you will want to start all drilling operations with a center drill or spot drill, they are more rigid than a longer drill so the cutter can't flex as much. Once you get your power drawbar installed this will be quick and easy. 8-)

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+arlen raasch - Yeah, I need to get that installed. :) I would normally center drill but those brackets don't need to be very accurate. I also usually only use the short drill bits. Thanks!

[@danl.4743]

8:35 Hitchcock himself could not create a more suspenseful moment in HIS movies. Pwew!

[@MyRadDesign]

Instead of trying to avert a machine crash by clicking the mouse, hit the E Stop on the machine panel. Get yourself in the mindset that if the machine looks like it is doing something the least bit odd, hit the E Stop. You can re-reference the axes very quickly after an E Stop, and take whatever time is necessary to diagnose what the issue is. Mach 3 allows you to set the g code instruction that you want to start from with the ability to do a preparatory move to get the spindle in a safe location to do the approach from. This saves going through a bunch of operations that are already complete on the part. I am sure that Path Pilot offers this capability as well.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+arlen raasch - Yeah, I didn't want to have to reference the machine again. Do you have any issues with accuracy with your limit switches? I have heard some people mention it. I know mach3 has a "run code from here" button. Not sure how to do it in pathpilot, I will have to check.

[@EZ_shop]

Hey Craig, great vid. Sorry about the two taps. Been there, broke that!

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Crivo152 - Thanks Marco! Yeah. I don't feel so bad after I saw Grimsmo's latest video. LOL He has a hole jar full of broken/warn endmills.

[@xringhammer1871]

You may want to add a "P" value in the g code for G83 . It will pause for a fraction of a second before retracting , thus preventing the violent pop out of the tapped hole.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Thanks, good to know! It hasn't been happening recently. Maybe something changed in fusion 360? Or maybe they added the P value by default? I will have to check the code.

[@peterdahlman]

Nice! This is happens very easy using Fusion 360 if you ask me. :) I had several broken tools before i started to turn off "use g28" in the Fusion settings.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Peter Dahlman - Thanks! Yeah, fusion bugs me sometimes. Grimsmo seams to be having some problems with it sometimes. I can't complain though since its free. :-) Broken tools from going Home?

[@ferrycollider]

+Peter Dahlman cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/66915871.jpg

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Stonewood - Funny! :-)

[@MyRadDesign]

No, I have no issues with accuracy when re-referencing. If you are working on something extremely critical, you have to consider lost motion. Then, it is important to do a preparatory move in the same direction as the machine moved in the original program when restarting in the middle of the program. This will replicate the positioning as accurately as the machine can.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+arlen raasch - That's good. Well, my stuff right now isn't that critical. I noticed that when jogging in .0001 that the dial test indicator doesn't move for a few clicks when I go the opposite direction. I think if its within a thou I am good. Good to know though. Kind of like manual machining. Maybe jog the head down a bit before starting. Thanks! So what belt position do you drill in?

[@MyRadDesign]

+Craig's Machine Shop For steel, low speed if a large hole. The lack of motion when jogging in .0001 is known as lost motion. All machines have this to some degree. For precise work you need to consider this. If you want to replicate the position the machine was you need to approach that position from the same direction as you did to get to the original position. Hope this helps. -Arlen

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+arlen raasch - Good to know. Still learning. Thanks!

[@sparksflyingpyro]

craig try 1100 rpm 4.0ipm and no pecking.

[@jamesanthony6239]

hey Craig, did you happen to catch my message over on fb? please get in touch when you get a chance bud. these videos are great! Ive been going through bits like crazy lately. killing me lol

[@sparksflyingpyro]

craig peck drilling is usually only needed when drilling 3 to 4 times the diameter of the drill in depth, its a waste of motion and adds lots of unnecessary time.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Sparks Flying - 3-4 times? That's good to know. I'm still learning. I started drilling 5/16 holes in 3/16 mild steel without pecking but I get a rumbling/vibration when it starts. I am using a carbide twist drill at 2700 RPM at 3 IPM. I am using carbide because I don't want to change belt position. At 1200 RPM with HSS I just stall with only 15 HZ. Any ideas? Thanks!

[@sparksflyingpyro]

+Craig's Machine Shop ?your stalling at 2700 rpm? carbide is the way to go, it likes being fed harder as opposed to low feed as slower feeds will dull it rapidly. i personally havent had to use lower gear for anything yet, i tap all holes in high gear at 250 rpm high gear, if you tap to fast the spindle cannot stop and reverse fast enough and you will break more taps. i am a machinist by trade for 22 years but bought a pcnc1100 to do machining for others from home.

[@sparksflyingpyro]

+Sparks Flying sorry at 1200 you stall, thats odd, i only stalled my machine once and it was while drilling with a 7/8 drill going 4" deep.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Sparks Flying - The 1100 has a little more power then the 770. Unless I am misunderstanding something about VFDs, 1200 RPM on the 770 in high puts me at about 15 HZ which gives me only 1/4 HP. I am guessing that on the 1100 it would be around 3/4 HP at 30 HZ. Not sure on the gearing of the 1100.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

+Sparks Flying - 22 years, wow that cool! Nice side job money! As an electrician I got too busy doing side jobs and started my own business. I use carbide because of the high RPM so I don't have to change belt position. I should have gotten the 1100. I may get an 1100 next.

[@MaturePatriot]

A lot of wobble in the spindle. Once the programing is correct, it does good work.

[@shaneclendennen522]

G98 not g99

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Thanks

[@Afraidof7]

video makes me feel drunk