Re: ER-16 vs WW spindle for Taig?


Robin S. wrote:

It sounds like a v-cutter is what you want. Are you merely making dots, or
are you moving sideways when cutting?

The reason I was asking is that .003" endmills are very (underline and bold
"very") uncommon. I'd be fairly surprised if a taig (I have one) could run a
.003" endmill correctly.

Side to side would be nice, but even dots would work for some
applications.

I'm beginning to understand from the half-dozen people I am presently
asking that v-cutter or conical cutter is really the best way to go, as
it is far less sensitive
to runout.

In that case, you need only be concerned with mechanical play in your mill.
I recommend setting up a dial indicator such that you can push and tug on
your machine, and see how far it moves. Basically, if you can setup a
stationary dial indicator against your mill table, give the table a bit of
a push, and see any movement (a .0001" indicator would be appropriate), it
is likely that you would be virtually unable to run a .003" endmill
correctly.

Probably the acid test of whether I can use a Taig with this size
endmill at all.
Even with a 20 micron TIR spindle, the 'play' would still kill any
advantage that
gives me, right?

I am also beginning to see how I might want to back off to using a .005
or .006 endmill.

Well, it's important that we understand what your application is. I don't
meant to be rude, but it sounds like you haven't got a lot of experience as
far as this type of machining is concerned.

No insult taken, I have none at all !!! For reasons I cannot go into
here, I have to try anyway.

Hopefully those here can guide
you in the right direction before you start snapping very expensive cutters
and wondering what the hang's going on. Unfortunately you won't be running
under ideal conditions and I suspect you won't have enough experience to
reason your way out of this problem when things start going wrong.

I don't have the luxury of waiting until I am as trained as all you
guys. The best I can do is to read, ask, listen, experiment, try,
fail, try, fail, try, fail, try, fail.... and then one day succeed.

The Eternal Squire

.