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Haas mill turning long shot

Ot1

Plastic
Joined
Oct 2, 2018
The HRC has an rpm of 138. Would it be possible to collet a 10mm diameter rod and turn it down to 7mm Diameter on one end to 25mm length. Would it be possible to turn threads on said rod?
 
The HRC has an rpm of 138.
That I do not understand...
Hardness Rockwell C?
But the 10MM to 7 MM and thread it... for an inch... not unusual.

HRC is the model of a rotary table.
OP, that is very low SFM but it is certainly possible. The better thing to do is stick a lathe tool in your vise and stick the turning stock into the spindle
 
For what it’s worth, I have a lathe tooling block that I made that holds 4 turning tools and 4 internal tools for turning with the spindle. I even made a 4” 3 jaw chuck adapted to a Cat40 holder. I used it a ton before I bought my first lathe. With some creative toolpaths I could make most anything that i needed. Programming is definitely the hardest part
 
I dont have a mill yet, and so asking questions so I can decide what to purchase, but the rods are 10” long so i would not think it would be seated far enough into the spindle.
 
10" long by 10mm diameter....and you don't have a machine yet....you're gonna want to buy a lathe.

If you need a mill for other stuff and this is just one component of whatever you are planning on making, shop it out to someone with a lathe, or even buy a cheap manual lathe depending on quantity and precision required. If you just need to turn a shoulder on the end of a shaft you don't need much, but a beat up old lathe is still going to be way faster and less fuss than trying to make your 4th axis pretend to be a lathe.
 
It will work fine.
You need a support at the end of the rod, not flopping 10" in the air.

Turning 10 mm down at 138 rpm in a lathe will work fine .. just poor finish and slow.
Same for milling it.

If you thread-mill the thread it should turn out great.
A tap with only one tooth should work for onesy/toosie.
 
I make lots of lathe parts on the mill, because the mill is all I have. One option, as stated above, is to put the stock in the spindle and lathe tools on the table, preferably in a gang-tool setup. I have a gang-tool block on a quick change pallet.

The other option is to set the stock pointing straight up toward the spindle, and just mill around it like a boss. Work from the tip down so that the part is supported by the remaining stock. Make threads by threadmilling.
 
To the original question, the Haas spindle doesn't have a physical brake on it, so it won't be able to hold a turning tool steady. Putting the lathe workpiece into the spindle is a better option...still jumping through a lot of hoops, but at least it'll technically work.
 
I see the problem, the spindle wont be able to lock and hold typical lathe tool angles necessary to turn down or thread the stock.
Too bad there isnt a spindle lock.

However my INEXPERIENCED thought was to chuck an end mill in the spindle or such to turn down the 138rpm rotating stock in the HRC and maybe some pointed mill to cut threads. The major hangup I thought of was IS there programming commands to handle such actions necessary to accomplish the job.
 
You are making this a lot harder than it needs to be. I have machined, tapped, single point threaded hundreds of parts up to 19" long. By using a 5c fixture on top of a face plate/angle block and such, you can do your turning etc. right on the ends, with only what you need sticking out.

In this picture you can see the 5c fixture on top of a 12 inch angle block I use all the time. Ignore the aluminum parts on the fixture as they are for a different part.

Just get a cheap and simple 5c fixture and blocks or angle block.

Mike

The file attachment manager is not working right now, so I can't post the picture. So, just picture it in your head, simple 5c vertical fixture on top on an angle block.

M
 
You don't want to cut threads with the point of an engraving cutter; it will take forever and you'll keep snapping the tip off the tool since it has no SFPM.
 
You are making this a lot harder than it needs to be. I have machined, tapped, single point threaded hundreds of parts up to 19" long. By using a 5c fixture on top of a face plate/angle block and such, you can do your turning etc. right on the ends, with only what you need sticking out.

In this picture you can see the 5c fixture on top of a 12 inch angle block I use all the time. Ignore the aluminum parts on the fixture as they are for a different part.

Just get a cheap and simple 5c fixture and blocks or angle block.

Mike

The file attachment manager is not working right now, so I can't post the picture. So, just picture it in your head, simple 5c vertical fixture on top on an angle block.

M


Working at home. This is an old picture I had loaded for another post, so no aluminum to disregard-------Mike
 

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To the original question, the Haas spindle doesn't have a physical brake on it, so it won't be able to hold a turning tool steady. Putting the lathe workpiece into the spindle is a better option...still jumping through a lot of hoops, but at least it'll technically work.

The Spindle Orientation feature is available on a Haas VF2, would it work holding a tool in the spindle that would allow turning if the part was chucked into an HRC210?
Spindle Orientation allows the spindle to be positioned to a specific, programmed angle, using the spindle motor and spindle encoder for feedback. This option provides inexpensive and repeatable spindle positioning accurate to 0.5 degree.

360-degree positioning possible
Allows the use of air- or coolant-driven broaching tools
Simplifies robotic part loading and unloading, with strategic positioning for clearance
Orients the spindle for custom applications
 
Unfortunately the "spindle orientation" feature doesn't actually engage a physical brake, so it's not very stable. It basically turns it into a servo where the spindle is neutral until you move it, then it fights you to go back to the programmed orientation. The problem is you can wiggle it around quite a bit, and if you turn it fast then it'll cause a lot of movement.
 
The orient on any of the direct drive spindles isn't very firm. I'm sure it's positioned accurately, but the holding torque is awful. I can rotate the tool probably 5deg out of position by hand before I feel it fighting back significantly. On broaching operations all the force is axial thrust along the spindle axis, not a torque load. You might have a little more holding torque on a gearbox machine, but it's still not a mill-turn with a Capto spindle designed for this (like a mazak integrex has, for example)
Even my big CNC lathe is the same way. The spindle is a massive servo with a large reduction, but even it has a big hydraulic brake to assist it when doing positional drilling operations or certain radial milling operations. If I don't engage the brake I can push and pull and get it to rotate a degree or two.

How many of these stepped shafts do you need to make? Are there any complex curves on them or are they just a shoulder with a thread? If the qty is small, get a manual lathe and just knock em out. If the quantity is large, go find a used gang tool lathe with a 5C collet nose, or a toolroom-style CNC lathe. Those can both be had pretty darn cheap, and then you don't have to spend a ton of time trying to make your mill do something it was never designed for.

Edit: I wanna say a used HAAS TL1 can be had for about the same as that rotary+drive costs you.
 
If you want to do turning on a mill it's far better to put the part in the spindle and the tools on the table. In my case that gives me a 15000RPM lathe with a 41 part automatic part changer and as many tools as I care to fit on the table. I could theoretically do B axis turning on it too.
 
If you want to do turning on a mill it's far better to put the part in the spindle and the tools on the table. In my case that gives me a 15000RPM lathe with a 41 part automatic part changer and as many tools as I care to fit on the table. I could theoretically do B axis turning on it too.

I want to see you do my 14 and 19 inch shafts with that setup! LOL
 
The orient on any of the direct drive spindles isn't very firm. I'm sure it's positioned accurately, but the holding torque is awful. I can rotate the tool probably 5deg out of position by hand before I feel it fighting back significantly. On broaching operations all the force is axial thrust along the spindle axis, not a torque load. You might have a little more holding torque on a gearbox machine, but it's still not a mill-turn with a Capto spindle designed for this (like a mazak integrex has, for example)
Even my big CNC lathe is the same way. The spindle is a massive servo with a large reduction, but even it has a big hydraulic brake to assist it when doing positional drilling operations or certain radial milling operations. If I don't engage the brake I can push and pull and get it to rotate a degree or two.

How many of these stepped shafts do you need to make? Are there any complex curves on them or are they just a shoulder with a thread? If the qty is small, get a manual lathe and just knock em out. If the quantity is large, go find a used gang tool lathe with a 5C collet nose, or a toolroom-style CNC lathe. Those can both be had pretty darn cheap, and then you don't have to spend a ton of time trying to make your mill do something it was never designed for.

Edit: I wanna say a used HAAS TL1 can be had for about the same as that rotary+drive costs you.

I considered the lathe route, but because it will be a great time saver to do some of the work on a 4th axis and haas would knock off another 5% if the rot table was purchased with the mill.
 








 
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