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Collet Tightening RF-30 Clone

YYCHM said:
1/2" R8 collets can be had for cheap. Even BB isn't all that bad Buy Collet 1/2in. R8 at Busy Bee Tools Even cheaper from AliExpress. You'll probably want a set of R8 collets down the road as they take up the least amount of tool mounting room which can be troublesome with a RF30. I've been collecting them one collet at a time. 1/2" and 3/8" will handle 90% of your needs.
Click to expand...
And I would suggest some metric R8 collets as well as most of the cheap end mills are in metric sizes.
 
YYCHM said:
1/2" R8 collets can be had for cheap. Even BB isn't all that bad Buy Collet 1/2in. R8 at Busy Bee Tools Even cheaper from AliExpress. You'll probably want a set of R8 collets down the road as they take up the least amount of tool mounting room which can be troublesome with a RF30. I've been collecting them one collet at a time. 1/2" and 3/8" will handle 90% of your needs.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip! I was thinking they would be a lot more than that each. Like 4-6x more. Live and learn.

I'll have to order a couple.
 
Tomc938 said:
Thanks for the tip! I was thinking they would be a lot more than that each. Like 4-6x more. Live and learn.

I'll have to order a couple.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised you didn't get a 1/2 and 3/8 with your mill. Those two are usually supplied with the machine from the get go.
 
DON"T us the spline as a gripper as was mentioned before ,If you marr the edges at all or torque the straightness the use & "trueness integrity" of the mill quill will be jeopardized.

The wrench flats YYC mentioned are one way but there is also a way to hold the spindle built into the machine. With the quill dropped a bit you should be able to see a slot that goes all the way tru to the other side when both tubes are lines up...this slot is for a tapered wedge to drop the tapers that are inserted but it can also accommodate an appropriate sized mill shank that when inserted far enough to catch both tubes, will hold everything stationary for tool changes.
 
historicalarms said:
DON"T us the spline as a gripper as was mentioned before ,If you marr the edges at all or torque the straightness the use & "trueness integrity" of the mill quill will be jeopardized.

The wrench flats YYC mentioned are one way but there is also a way to hold the spindle built into the machine. With the quill dropped a bit you should be able to see a slot that goes all the way tru to the other side when both tubes are lines up...this slot is for a tapered wedge to drop the tapers that are inserted but it can also accommodate an appropriate sized mill shank that when inserted far enough to catch both tubes, will hold everything stationary for tool changes.
Click to expand...

My R8 spindle House of Tools RF30 has that slot but there is no slot in the spindle? Do you have a R8 spindle or Taper spindle? The manual I have states that the slots and a tapered key are for ejecting taper drills.
 
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[mention]historicalarms [/mention] good points on the spline...... 8 only built mine because my 6x26 doesn’t have a spindle lock, and does not have a way to lock via the quill....

I saw wrenches for sale by grizzly and littlemachineshop. .... but you have given me PAUSE!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
historicalarms said:
DON"T us the spline as a gripper as was mentioned before ,If you marr the edges at all or torque the straightness the use & "trueness integrity" of the mill quill will be jeopardized.

The wrench flats YYC mentioned are one way but there is also a way to hold the spindle built into the machine. With the quill dropped a bit you should be able to see a slot that goes all the way tru to the other side when both tubes are lines up...this slot is for a tapered wedge to drop the tapers that are inserted but it can also accommodate an appropriate sized mill shank that when inserted far enough to catch both tubes, will hold everything stationary for tool changes.
Click to expand...

With all due respect, if you put enough load on a $22 cheap spline wrench (made of finest Chinesium) to damage the splines, you have much larger problems. I’m not sure how the hook wrench could handle enough torque to damage the quill, and if it could the collet would also be toast. The LMS wrench is 8.5” long. A really good one-arm pull on this wrench would be about 150 ft-lbs. The RF30 mill we have at work has a 28mm quill. There’s no way on the Lords green earth that a 28mm hollow shaft will twist with 150 ft-lbs of torque. And the hook wrench at the other end can’t possibly hold at this torque.
 
YYCHM said:
My R8 spindle House of Tools RF30 has that slot but there is no slot in the inner tube? Do you have a R8 spindle or Taper spindle? The manual I have states that the slots and a tapered key are for ejecting taper drills.
Click to expand...

Mine is the Morse taper quill. I would be surprised if yours doesn't have the inside slot as well, sometime I have to turn the inside tube a bit to find the inside slot....yes tapered drill bits are included in its usage parameters.
 
whydontu said:
With all due respect, if you put enough load on a $22 cheap spline wrench (made of finest Chinesium) to damage the splines, you have much larger problems. I’m not sure how the hook wrench could handle enough torque to damage the quill, and if it could the collet would also be toast. The LMS wrench is 8.5” long. A really good one-arm pull on this wrench would be about 150 ft-lbs. The RF30 mill we have at work has a 28mm quill. There’s no way on the Lords green earth that a 28mm hollow shaft will twist with 150 ft-lbs of torque. And the hook wrench at the other end can’t possibly hold at this torque.
Click to expand...

No gaurantee that someone might not use a pipe snipe for a handle on that wrench and multiply that 150 lbs considerably....and the torque is initially on the spline shaft, not the inside tube . True the inside tube may be damaged but after the damage may be incurred to the spline shaft.
 
historicalarms said:
Mine is the Morse taper quill. I would be surprised if yours doesn't have the inside slot as well, sometime I have to turn the inside tube a bit to find the inside slot....yes tapered drill bits are included in its usage parameters.
Click to expand...

This slot?

QuillSlot.JPG


@David_R8 Do you have a matching slot in your spindle?
 
historicalarms said:
Mine is the Morse taper quill. I would be surprised if yours doesn't have the inside slot as well, sometime I have to turn the inside tube a bit to find the inside slot....yes tapered drill bits are included in its usage parameters.
Click to expand...

Nope.... nothing in my R8 spindle. Must be a taper spindle feature.
 
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