CNC Tooling

[Cory]

Originally Posted by MICHAELABICK

For workholding we are thinking of getting 2 Kurt 3600V vises. Because the table on the TM-2P is so big I'm not sure if it would be beneficial to get 3 vises. I've heard good things about glacern too so we are still deciding between the twoo. Workholding seems like it is a very good area to invest in.

For CAM I've heard good things about mastercam from the CD community but our haas rep recommended gibbscam. I'm still not quite sure which one to get.

I found these drill bits on mcmaster: http://www.mcmaster.com/high-speed s...gth drill bits. They say good for steel, cast iron, and plastic and they are 118*, but I assume they will be fine.

Are 90* spotting driil okay? I've heard that your spotting angle should be bigger than your drill bit angle.

For toolholding I want to get at least 4 1/4" EM holders and 4 1/2" EM holders. I'm still not sure if I want to get 1/8", 3/16", and 3/8" EM holders. I want 14-16 ER16 tool holders, 1 drill chuck, and 1-2 face mill arbors.

4 each of 1/4" and 1/2" end mill holders is a lot. We only have 2 of each. You don't want to use a solid holder for 1/8" end mills. Any runout will destroy the tool in short order. Use a collet.

14-16 is a lot. It's taken us 5 years to accumulate that many and our machine can hold more tools. I don't know that I'd start out with so many. I'd also add a few ER-32's. You're going to want them to hold any drills/end mills over 1/2", or even 3/8" for rigidity purposes.

I don't really see a need for 2 face mills-just get one that takes standard inserts that are available for ferrous and non-ferrous materials. I'd rather have 2 drill chucks.

The drills you found are fine. 90* spot drills are fine.

The more vises you get the better. 3 vises means you're 50% more productive if you're making multiple parts. I would buy 4 of the Glacern 3600V clones over 2 3600V's.

Again, all of this comes back to your budget. This is all a "price is no object" list without one. If it's tight, lots of things I've suggested can be cut back to the bare minimum to get up and running.