We decided to really take the 8×12 CNC conversion to the next level… of weird.

The inspiration was just getting something hacked together that could produce parts. And we did just that.

We removed the cross slide and mounted a plate to which a parker daedal postioning stage was mounted. We also drilled and tapped holes into the carriage! Ouch!

More this weekend. With video!

OK, a mini mill won’t spin one of these 1″ insert end mills, but we want to share the joys of finding a great tool nonetheless.

Running at 120-240 ipm with a depth of cut up to 0.300″ at only 6000rpm is pretty cool.

The inserts are polished and have a geometry that lends itself well to aluminum. These are sold (drop-ship) by a few vendors as it turns out, but Practical Machinists’ “exkenna” AKA latheinserts.com (Curtis) is the guy who we’ve bought ours from. This works well in our Fadal and really gets things moving.

He also has tools that are well-suited for hobby mills and lathes. Even on of their (again drop-ship) end mills from Korea has a 42 degree flute which clears chips well and allows for nice surface finishes.

Try them out! We will talk more about the face mill and other tooling we have purchased from them from time to time. Happy machining!