Re: Fly cutter on Sherline.

Hi John,

I don't think the indexing rig can be driven by a stepper. The old
manual rotary tables will need a bracket and coupling to convert to CNC,
the new ones have a CNC version with the "cone" motor mount installed.

A round stock to have facets, or a SQUARE stock to be round!

I WOULDN'T try spinning *SQUARE* bar stock against the fly cutter! You
can emulate a lathe with the indexer or rotary table, but I'd use an end
mill, and take off the material in a series of cuts. Perhaps knock off
the corners first to make an octagonal piece, then knock off the corners
again... Good job for CNC. Then again, I suppose one could just "turn
it" like in a lathe (albeit slowly), using a rotating end mill. Try it,
and let us know! I think I need a tailstock... Hellooo Sherline!

Adding facets to round stock would be easy. Just setup on the positions
of the "flats", and use an end mill to flatten 'em off! IMO, the fly
cutter is for LARGE surface areas. It DOES make a mess!

Cheers! And may the swarf be with you!

Alan Marconett
P.S. I ordered the MicroMark catalog!

http://www.micromark.com/



e.heritage@... wrote:

>
> Ahh, as always literally two minutes after I send the mail I find the answer
> out elsewhere. Just after sending it the Sherline catalog appear at my door
> and after about thirty seconds flicking through I discover what a fly cutter
> is for and how they're used for cutting gears and teeth on the rotary table
> and that they're primary use is for milling large flat surfaces (There's
> even a picture for the lesser experienced. Myself). They look pretty useful
> if you need to do that kind of thing for just £15, sure looks violent
> though, even taking tiny slices. Same with that toothed circular saw for
> cutting gears! After I saw the picture in the Sherline mag I realised they
> must have been either milling a round stock to have facets. Or, I'm not
> sure, but it might have been used to turn a round stock by spinning the
> thing up, rotating the bar and passing it back and forth along the length of
> the stock. I don't know though, does anyone think that might work? Have you
> seen the steam engine in the first page of the new Sherline catalog! That's
> SERIOUSLY small! The only thing I'd criticise Sherline for is not inculding
> much metric along side all the imperial they use (Cockroaches? : ) When it
> says stuff like, '0.003" and down to 0.002 with skill' I go looking for my
> calculator. Come on Sherline, just a little metric... please? For the sake
> of my calculator! Is there any difference between the rotary table and the
> indexing table apart from the rotary can be laid flat on the bed? Does the
> indexing table allow for CNC?
>
> Regards,
> John
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alan Marconett KM6VV" <KM6VV@...>
> To: <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2001 12:44 AM
> Subject: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Fly cutter on Sherline.
>
> > Hi John,
> >
> > I haven't seen the MicroMark catalog yet (URL?), but I CAN say that the
> > table doesn't rotate fast enough! "jaw of the mill"? a collet in the
> > spindle? You are probably seeing a fly cutter cutting something on the
> > rotary table or indexing table. It could be they are cutting a gear,
> > with a gear tooth profile ground on the "lathe tool bit". That would
> > explain it, I think!
> >
> > Let us know, I'm curious!
> >
> > Alan KM6VV
> >
> > e.heritage@... wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello group,
> > >
> > > I recieved a catalog from Micro Mark today. I order this about five
> days or so ago and it's come all the way from America, which makes me laugh
> when I took it to be a rather cheapo company looking at what they sell. I've
> order supposidly 'free' catalog with 'free' postage from a lot of massive
> companies for them to NEVER arrive! And when they boast about them being
> free only for them to not send you the thing it gives a very bad impression
> of them as a whole. Thinking about that I have been recieving about four or
> five radom faxes recently from 'The new bible', 'Win a playstation'.... etc
> > >
> > > Anyway, the point of the mail. In there catalog they have a picture
> of the Sherline mill with the indexing table addon. But in the jaw of the
> mill is a sort of cylinderical clamp with a lathe tool in it. The table is
> not rotating, it's not blurred, but the bar clamped in it appears to have
> been turned down by the lathe tool. Do these table rotate fast enough to do
> this? On the accesories page I found something that looks very similar to
> the tool in the jaw of the mill called a Fly Cutter. If I've got this mixed
> up would there be anyway to clamp something into the mills jaw and then use
> a tool on the bed to turn it a bar?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > John