Spare Parts #11 - Making A 4 Flute Light Duty Dovetail Cutter
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- Making A 4 Flute Light Duty Dovetail Cutter, by Clickspring.
The "Impossible Dovetail" project requires a rather unique narrow taper dovetail cutter. So in this video I make my own from oil hardening (O1) tool steel. There's plenty of lathe and mill work in the project, as well as hardening and tempering of the cutting tool with basic shop equipment.
The "Impossible Dovetail" project can be found here: • Machining The "Impossi...
If you would like to help support the creation of these videos, then head on over to the Clickspring Patreon page: / clickspring
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Cameras used in this video:
Panasonic GH5 - amzn.to/2rEzhh2
Panasonic X920 - amzn.to/2wzxxdT
Tools & Shop Products:
"Lathework: A Complete Course (Workshop Practice Series)" - amzn.to/2yBv4Rb
"Basic Lathework (Workshop Practice Series)" - amzn.to/2twVNIU
"Milling: A Complete Course (Workshop Practice Series)" - amzn.to/2K2QZ97
"Hardening, Tempering and Heat Treatment (Workshop Practice Series)" - amzn.to/2KbZo6l
Dykem 80300 Steel Blue Layout Fluid, Brush-in-Cap (4oz): amzn.to/2HGPaJJ
Blue Matador Abrasive Paper - amzn.to/2IAFiBT
Kaowool 24" X 12" X 1" 2400 F Ceramic Fiber Insulation: amzn.to/2pfsM3d
Saint Gobain (Norton) - 4 Arkansas Stones + case: amzn.to/2HCOAMX
Abbreviated Transcript:
00:06 One of the cutting tools required to make this impossible dovetail puzzle is a narrow taper dovetail cutter like this. It has an included angle of 22 degrees, and 4 teeth formed by milling 4 straight flutes.
00:19 Each tooth has positive rake generated from the way the flutes are milled past the centerline, and I'll grind in some relief angles behind each tooth after its been hardened.
00:30 The first step was to turn the basic profile to shape.
01:10 The cutting teeth need to be concentric with this shank, so I'm removing the 3 jaw chuck, and using an ER Collet chuck from here on, to give a better result.
01:33 There's quite a bit of work sticking out from the collet, and its all supported by that narrow shank, so a bit of tailstock support will be needed to get an accurate cut. Once that support was in place, I formed the tapered profile of the cutter.
02:30 At this point the workpiece is essentially a cutter blank, ready to have some teeth formed, so the next step was to transfer it to the mill to cut the 4 flutes.
03:13 Now that most of the shaping of the cutter is complete, it can be taken to a red heat, quenched in oil to harden, and then slowly tempered it to a light straw color.
03:30 Now ideally I'd form the relief angles using a tool cutter grinder, but I don't have one, so I'm freehand grinding them using this bench grinder. I'm keeping the contact with the wheel quite short to keep the heat generated to a minimum, I don't want the temperature to rise so much that it softens those cutting edges.
03:54 And at this point the cutter is basically complete, it just needs to have the small burrs removed, and the cutting edges honed. And I found that its a particularly easy cutter sharpen; it sits comfortable on the bench, and a small oilstone runs neatly down the flutes.
04:14 OK, so with all edges honed and ready to cut, give it a run and see how it performs. I've used a standard end mill to remove the bulk of the waste stock from this test piece of aluminium, so that I put the lowest possible burden on the cutter. And for the most part, it seems to perform quite well. As always though, there are some limitations.
04:32 For one thing it can't be run very hard. If the cutter heats up too much, the carbon steel will become annealed, and immediately lose its cutting edge. Its a light duty cutter suited to relatively soft materials.
04:44 The speed of the cut at the top of the tool is also much slower than at the bottom, and the cutting geometry at the top is less than perfect too. So while the bottom is forming nice chips, the top is a little more inclined to rub the metal rather than cut it.
05:00 It wasn't a huge issue, and a partial solution was to take a finishing pass on either side, as well as use some abrasive paper to knock down the burr, but still, it's not ideal.
05:08 And finally, it's unlikely that the taper I formed on the lathe has survived my freehand grinding of the relief angles, particularly as I resharpen it.
05:16 The accuracy was fine for the project I used this cutter on, but I think its fair to say that freehand grinding of the relief limits the cutter to relatively low precision work like profiling and contouring.
05:28 Having said all that, it cuts aluminium surprisingly well, and seems like a reasonable option for low volume, low precision work in softer materials, particularly if there's nothing available commercially.
Making A 4 Flute Light Duty Dovetail Cutter, by Clickspring.
I can't decide if it's more engrossing watching you make projects, or watching you make the tools for the projects; either way, thank you!
Best channel on the tube. You really are an example of how to do youtube exactly right. Please keep them coming. I wish it had a twin who made fabrication/welding videos.
+Joe Doesntcareaboutthis Check out AvE. He's similar to clickspring, but not as flashy. He has a few welding videos. Also, if the market is open for a certain youtuber, perhaps you could start the channel.
Yeah, I'm subbed. Love AvE.
The trouble is that's exactly what I'm trying to learn. It's not a channel I could do.
+Joe Doesntcareaboutthis Joe, could you give a little more on AvE? Searched for it and got a lot of wonderful music. AvE metalwork search kept sending me to ACE metalwork..... help? @Chris -thanks for another great video. Keep learning new things everytime you post a video.
+Joe Doesntcareaboutthis ChuckE2009 has a metal fab channel that has a ton of good info and projects. Production value may not be quite as high as ClickSpring but lots of good info.
But now he kind if spoiled.
Thank you for the inspiring videos, Chris! I have a suggestion for putting the relief angle on the cutting edges.
First make a fixture for the mill to hold the collet block at a tad bit less than 22 degrees in the mill vise. The cutter needs to be rotated 3 degrees, or whatever
you want for a relief angle.
Next, take a cup style grinding wheel, not too fine of grit; 60 is what I am going to try first when I do this. Mount the cup grinding wheel on an arbor
to be held in a collet in the mill spindle. If the wheel is too fine it will glaze over very easily.
Now, at the highest rpm, the mill can't spin that grinding wheel nearly fast enough, but for this application it will do.
Start with a light depth of cut, maybe .03 to .05 mm, if that much. And the feed must be fast: too slow and things will heat up too quickly.
The most important thing is to keep the wheel moving! If the grinding wheel is allowed to rest in one spot it will glaze over, generate a lot of heat in the cutter
and anneal that spot, and will need to be dressed down to remove the glaze or it will burn all of the cutting edges, ruining the piece.
Using a spin fixture you could do the same for D-cutter, and grind a bit of relief clearance as well!
Now that I am retired I don't have access to the industrial machines I did this sort of thing on for 40 years, and your videos are helping me think out of that box.
you guy's time machine sent me back 1 yr 4 months, where im watching this video as it came out.
Can you please do a shop tour sometime?
Ps: love your vids
Woah. I thought that his workshop would have been massive. Nope- it's basicly an american-sized closet
I made a dovetail cut today. The lighting and photography were not as good as this vid.
The production quality of these Clickspring videos is more like professional than hobby.
is it sad that I even just love watching you make parts to use to make more parts...
thanks again sir!
This is incredible to watch. I sit here eating my dinner watching your videos all the time.
Love the vids, thanks for taking the time to create them. I know it can not be easy; not only are you concentrating on the tasks for which you are capturing for video, but the video-creating/editing can be just as tedious and time-consuming.
Chris, it's just amazing and incredible your high quality craftsmanship. It almost feels so artistic the way you take your time and the step by step go just into makeing a TOOL for your main project and details. I can't wait to see more. Mad love for your work :)
I know this video is years old but I thought I'd make a suggestion. I work for Leitz Tooling in Germany. You should see if you can find yourself a "Vollmer UWS-70U pedestal grinder" would make your life so much easier.
That's what we use to sharpen these by hand at work.
Clickspring I think your videos and ideas are great, but I am old now and a newcomer and I haven't worked on metal for over 40 years. And so I am worried that I wont live long enough to even scratch the surface of you ideas. but I really like them, please keep them coming.
regards Colin. UK.
Will do Colin, terrific to have you watching mate :)
I had a bit of a chuckle how casually you said that you made the cutter in the video of the impossible dovetail. Very cool stuff, a lathe and a mill can turn a chunk of metal into just about anything you want.
I have see all ur videos love all the work you do I was a machinist for 7 years great seeing various metals being used big thumbs up from me 👍👍
+Peter Robson Cheers Peter, thanks very much for watching :)
That ok was good to watch
I just love to learn. You teach me new things with every video. Thank you very much.
I have a few home made dove tail cutters myself,if you're looking for a carbide one,small ones can be ground from a boring bar.But I've tried to make larger ones without too much success hence why I'm getting ready to order one from AB Tools.I was going to try and make one for carbide inserts myself but after working out the details its best that I just order one and figured I'd mention it to help others.
this has to be one of the best edited channels on youtube
+ben middleton Thanks Ben, very much appreciate you tuning in :)
These videos are really fantastic. They are really nice to look at and listen to and exceptionally relaxing.
i am awed by your workmanship. thank you for giving me a standard to reach for!
Nice job Chris, good dovetail, specially without the cutter grinders, I would've made this with a spiral flute on my Walter 5 Axis CNC tool grinder at work. There's always time for you to get one!
ooh yes please! Must talk to Mrs Clickspring before Christmas!!
Wow! I never would have thought of making your own router bits!
Is it because your mill is open that you don't use cutting fluid?
You do such beautiful work, it seems to me that a flooding of fluid or oil might fix your cutting speed/over heating issue. 😉
Thank you for sharing your talent with all of us! It's Awesome.
💕
Nice work Chris! Sure, like you state below, you could have done a few things a little differently to obtain a better finish when using this cutter, but you would not have learned that without having tried to make the tool in the first place. This is a quality that I try to instill in the youth because too many people fear failure and allow this to paralyze themselves and thus never even try, which is a real shame. You set a fine example and are a good role model mate. Thanks for sharing!
Sir you are like Bob Ross's Australian cousin who's a machinist instead of a painter. Love your work.
+UndyingSimmons Thank you very much, that is a wonderful compliment, I appreciate your support :)
You might try milling the relief angles, hardening it while covered in some protective sludge (clay - coal dust - flour - salt are ingredients i have seen or heard of being useful) and then just careful oil stoning....
Ideal for the job at hand or not, still a rather genious solution.
+lone wolf Thanks for watching
Another top quality video 👍🏼
You've a pretty steady hand to
get such a good straight cutting
edge 😉
You've done it again, Chris! Amazing machining with a great video to do it justice!
Ok first off, how do i get in the club of "Men Who MAKE Their Own Tools" ? Man i been going and BUYING shit that usually is only KINDA what i was looking for. Your work and skill are AMAZING. Keep this going brother!
As always Chris exceptionally well videoed and edited. You really are doing professional quality videos. A suggestion that's most likely redundant since I'm quite sure you've thought of it already. If it were me I'd seriously consider building a proper spindle mounted ER chuck. Much more rigidity as I'm quite sure you already know, but I'm adding this for those who might not. Plus you then have the spindle open for longer work.
Very nice demonstration of what's capable of being done to build custom tooling on the average shop equipment. And done with the finest M.E., Clock, or watchmaker methods. I think even GHT would be happy with what you did.
dude your videos are the best in production and content. I hope you keep making them forever!
i"m impressed and in love with your art... this is absolutelly beautiful... congratulations!
Again more useful tips to be seen & learnt from. Very slick professionally made & edited video. I've subscribed to your channel. Great stuff👍🇬🇧
Appreciate your sub, thanks for watching :)
Awesome work as always!
Hiya to sharpen the cutter teeth without altering the profile you can take the cutter to the stone, lay the cutter on the stone edge then move the cutter on the stone which hones the cutter face that leads from the cutting edge to the flute 👍
M8 if you remove a small cross section vertically down the shank of the bur head, you could braze/solder in with six sold. a small carbide insert a lot of the factories used in todays day use NOTHING but carbide, and when it is down to the shank you might be able to get them for a very small price. your work is amazing and thank you for putting it up and taking the time to explain everything
It's wonderful when there's no need skip forward
Great video as always. I saw one of these a while back and had to admit it got me! Obvious when you are shown how it works!
+Matt Harrington :( That comment was meant for your other vid.....
I like very much how you work. Congratulations
Looks like a challenging piece..especially for only a few reliable uses... Great video Mate.. G'Day Chris
I love the spare parts series. Thanks for taking the time to show us how you do it.
I'm waiting for you to buy some carbide inserts to braise onto tool steel for use when making these bits.
Awesome, after your D cutter video I tried my hand at a D style dovetail cutter and had moderate success in aluminium, however I will be replicating this cutter next as positive rake and a hollow ground end seem like a much better idea!
Thanks, happy holidays and keep up the great videos!
You make everything look so incredibly easy in your videos. Caution, may leave Amateur gamers with a false sense of security.
The HSS tools you make are great. could you show us how you grind them. The one I like most is the Lathe rounded one you use a lot. Thanks Great videos I've watched almost all of them.
+Jerry Wallis Yes I will do a lathe tool grinding video at some point, thanks for watching Jerry :)
Pretty darned good job Chris, with that free-hand grind :)
The cut in the Al was impressive. Nice!
Happy New Year mate.
G'day , Im here . Watching all your vids . Always ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Awesome as ever chris. WELL DONE!!!
Impressive offhand grinding skills Sir !
Well, this wasn't the flute I was expecting, but was still pretty effin' boss!
I was wondering if your 3 jaw chuck is accurate enough for making a milling bit. But then at 1:10 you switched to a collet.
Nice stuff, well explained. Thanks.
Aaaaahhhhhh........ A double dose of Clickspring magic!
nice tool Chris Great Work
Great work! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Jim
Ficou bacana essa feramenta ai!
Com sua ajuda da postagem consegui fazer uma dessa ai também.
E a outra peça q essa feramenta ai fabricou! Fiz uma também! De náilon!
Você é muito inteligente
Parabéns pelo o que faz 👍👍
Your videos and work are amazing since the first day I subscribed! Keep them up and better like you do every time you post new ones!!
0
Hi quality videos. You clearly love your craft. Cheers.
Great vid Chris. I really like your honest assessments after making tools like this. Have a happy new year!
Great video as always. I saw a video today about high precision spinning tops, would love to see you make one.
Lovely job. Could have some carbide inserts made up to braze on.. Last a lifetime if treated right.. Good vid bud like all the manual machining i``m a cnc guy but i want a proper mans cave like you one day ha.. Keep up the good work..
Wow, I'm impressed.
Hey Chris,
Really enjoy your videos. You have a great voice for narrating.
May I ask where you buy your blank drill rod or tool steel from?
Cheers
+jamen23 I get drill rod from my local Blackwoods, cheers mate :)
Fabulous my friend, always enjoy You,re vids Chris
Watching this made me a better human being :D
Great video, well put together. Forgive my novice questions. Why simultaneously upmill and downmill both sides of the dovetail rather than use a narrower cutter? And why not cut out the bulk first with a regular flat ended mill? Thank you.
Awesome video as always Chris!
Outstanding work... Really beautiful... What kind of lathe and vertical milling machines do you use ??
Très beau travail good job 👍
3:09 Fantastic video as usual and all, but... what in the world is that green coloured fire?!
Boric acid!
Clickspring thanks!
I go to sleep with these videos, Chris has a great voice.
Thank you! Happy New Years!
Hi Chris and Clickspring Team. Great job on the Dovetail Cutter. Just a thought on the grinding process,... Would a Flexible Shaft Die Grinder rigged to the Lathe's Tool Post
and an indexing plate rigged to the Lathe's Spindle give better control of the Dovetail Cutter's Primary and Secondary Peripheral Angles after the Hardening process?
Thanks Chris - another awesome video. Why did you cut the relief angles on the cutter AFTER hardening and tempering?
nice job. happy New year from germany
2:40 - 2:44 what is happening here. I guess you're finding the center point/line, but how? What's the tool used? Also, thanks for the videos! I love how you're no afraid to make the exact tool you need, instead of bodging it or buying ultra expensive stuff.
It's called an edge finder. Yes you are correct that he was locating work coordinates. Basically it wobbles, and you move in to the part until it runs true. Then by moving over the radius of the edge finder, you have the location of that edge (X or Y) and can calculate your cutter move from there.
+oakbushcraft Well, taht sounds like a useful tool. Nut I guess its more useful with a DRO on the mill... right?
+BIll Georgoulakis Yes you are correct. I would say that most mills you come across in shops these days have DROs. And edge finders are pretty much the standard for setting X and Y zero on manual machines. CNCs give you more options, but they are pricey. A good quality edge finder is very inexpensive and you will find one in every machinists tool box :)
+oakbushcraft I am interesed in an easy way to find material edges for X,Y for my small CNC router. What are the options you refer to. Thanks! (going off to eBay to search for small edge finders)
For router i would say just grab an edge finder. Get one that has .200" diameter (that is the tip diameter). Simply install into a collet or drill chuck, turn it on (less than 500 rmp) and touch off the edge till it runs true. Move the Z axis up till it clears the workpiece then over .100" and set your origin.
The other options i mentioned are not of interest to a hobbiest as they cost thousands of dollars and are very complicated and proprietary systems for industrial machinery.
They are cool though ;)
A small edge finder should fit your needs well. A good one can be purchased for $35-50 and they last a very long time if they aren't beat on. I would suggest looking on McMaster Carr or MSC.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for another great video. What is the ratio of Borax to alcohol?
Thanks,
Rob
Add just enough to make a thick paste. For the small jar you see in the videos, it ends up being a few capfuls of alcohol. Be sure to use powdered boric acid, rather than borax. It can usually be found at the local hardware store as a roach bait.
fantastic video! well done sir.
I miss these vids.
harika takımlar yapıyorsunuz teprik ederim hava çeliğinden yapıyorsunuz dimi
Hand grinding? How do you know if all the flutes were the same cutting height ? Either way impressive.
Que lindo!! muy buen trabajo!! Saludos.
Can you make a video about how you calibrate the mill with those tools I still don't understand how it works with the positioning.
Great work as usual! Merry Christmas!
+Metallurg33 Merry Christmas to you and yours also :)
your comment was posted 7 days ago? what kind of sorcery is this?
+Ian Kyle Maturan Patreon contributors get videos a week early.
+wewd That explains why the video he released three hours ago has close to 4,000 comments and only shows 277 views. Chris
Before you ground the blade edges would it have been possible to just leave them Square drill and tap two or three holes in each blade face and attached carbide blades which would really make that tool a nice precise flute cutter even on brass
Interesting as usual. I wonder if it would be more efficient if you made it from silver steel?
love your videos. There are similar shape woodworking router bits available.
Impresionante. Me gustaría que pudieras hacer un macho para rosca trapezoidal. Sería genial.
Yo quiero fabricar un macho TR 25X4. Que tipo de acero recomiendas, y como debo darle tratamiento térmico?
would you use flutes like this for wood too?(i mean the material, and how you build it) friendly greetings, jörgen
again awesome video, the 50fps makes a big difference!
Awsome project, congrats on 112,755 subs
you are a great artist
+Abed Saab Thank you for watching Abed :)
noticed that even for machining harder materials you don't use lubricants, and seems to work in a real low cutting speed. Is this only for esthetics on video? By the way... great videos mate.
Why do I suspect that Chris’ freehand grinding is probably more accurate than me if I was using a tool holder?
What is the mill that you used in this video? I'm looking into getting one and you use this mill fantastically well. Also can you make a workshop tour?
Hi Chris, great video as always! I'm curious about something - at 1:48 you extend the tailstock quite a ways from the tailstock housing. Is there a reason for this? I would think it would become less rigid the further it's extended.
~Cheers
I know this is more of a machining channel. But do you think you'll give an overview on how you create some of these tools in your CAD program?
+Nate Guy I could certainly do that if there was enough interest. Be sure to check out John over at NYCCNC if you haven't already, he gives excellent Fusion360 design tutorial vids.
How did you do the taper on the shank? Did you use compound and cross slide simultaneously? Is there a trick to getting this consistently?
I want that lathe soooo bad, and I will take that mill while we are at it lol.
Unless UA-cam is fibbing on numbers, you currently have half of the people who watched this video giving you a thumbs up. That's unheard of! Yet another gorgeously shot and edited production; thank you for sharing it.
(As a beginner hobbyist) I don't recognize the lathe tool being used at 1:01. What would that be called?
+verdatum UA-cam viewing numbers are wildly inaccurate at the beginning. It usually takes several days for the numbers to start to accurately reflect the views. Something to do with the fact the the video is served from several servers depending on where in the world you are viewing from. These views then have to be collated and checked for duplication and error. The amount of views effect UA-cam's liability for sharing ad revenue with content producers, so they are extra careful to make sure they don't inflate the numbers wrongly.
Thumbs up and down just register a viewers reaction to a video and are counted instantly because they have no effect on revenue.
I kind of miss the days of "301+"
It is just a fine ground hss tool bit
thanks!
Ideallly you would use HSS or an inserted tool -- see Randy Richard's dovetail cutter videos. dovetail cutter videos. But in the real world you use what you have. Or can get. I see you are making the "impossitail" as Roy Underhill called it. Which brings up the fact that that thing would work perfectly as a router woodcutting bit, and last forever with a bit of honing. Amusing coincidence, I am currently experimenting with relatively tiny clock wheel cutters -- four tooth, a la Don Unwin.