The Home Machinist!

So, is a magnetic chuck at all useful for workholding on a Milling machine?

Iam thinking it might be a nice thing to have to hold down small, thin pieces of flat bar...

Thanks
Glenn

Risky to use. It's important for work to be held rigidly when milling. The slightest movement often results in the tool picking up the part. Broken cutters and scrapped parts are generally the result. That's not to say that they can't be used with success, but it's all too easy to get in trouble. They are successful on surface grinders because of the low cutting pressure, but even on a surface grinder parts have been known to move.

H

Thanks Harold. That’s sort of what I suspected. One of the Metal heads has an extra he talked about giving up. But I haven’t a need except for milling small stuff- which may be even more problematic with really small contact area.

Glenn

In the years of machining I've done with mills and lathes, manual and CNC, I've never required the use of a magnetic chuck.
It might be "cool' to have one, but I never had the need.
And they only work with ferrous materials.
'Just my own experience.
~RN

In addition to what has already been stated, the flatness of the mounting face is the real issue. a piece of hot rolled steel will move with very little force, while a plate that is ground would take quite a lot to be moved.

Overall a bad idea, that will certainly lead to dramatic issues.

I got my 6X18 at auction for $30 JUST in case I ever get a surface grinder. In the meantime it is under the bench waiting for me to discover another use for it


Jack

You'd need to box the part in the way you would if using glue or double-sided tape.

John Hasler wrote: ↑Thu Nov 08, 2018 2:14 pm You'd need to box the part in the way you would if using glue or double-sided tape.

Don't encourage readers to do something stupid. Unless left hand cutters are used, the lifting power of a cut will often be enough to pull the part away from the chuck, which no amount of blocking will prevent.

As I said, it can work, but the risk of a mishap outweighs any possible gain.

H