The Home Machinist!

Hi All,

I've been toying with the idea of getting either an import or used bridgeport right angle head attachment for my mill. I know they have an intergral R8 stub to attach the driven component to the mill spindle, but I don't know what the bore of the output side is. I know they are usually sold with a horizonal arbor for milling cutters, along with an outboard support to attach to the mill dovetail. I don't anticipate doing that, I would just like the ability to do right angle milling and things such as using a slitting saw.

Could someone tell me what the output geometry is? Do they accept a stub which would hold an and endmill or such?
Thanks
Terry

The Bridgeport right angle attachment one I have uses R8 collets same as the mill spindle.

Jim

Can you use a right angle attachment without the support on the ram dovetail? I mean if you were to have a jam or binding of the slitting saw wouldn't there be a twisting motion imparted to the quill?

That's a good point. There are 3 sizes of these RA heads I know of which means there are at least 4. Yeh, the larger one with R-8 should have it's ram support if the wheel is large or thick. Clamped to the quill and support used it's essentially a small Horizontal mill. OTOH, many uses are with small end mills so you can go into places neither an H or V can go. In this case also, the quill is locked into the head and Z adj is by means of knee.

Very handy also for drilling long pieces that won't fit under the quill using a R8 shanked drill chuck or one in a collet.

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www.chaski.com

A BIG A-men to that. I'd be afraid to take even a very light cut without the other end being
rigidly anchored (of the arbor). All it would take is a bit of load to twist the attachment on
the quill and bang goes the cutter.
...lew...

I use a right angle head without arbor support for slitting, but I take very light cuts, mostly in wood. Because I have a power drawbar, I needed to modify the head to be able to mount it on the spindle without having to change to an extended drawbar.



Here's some detail on my custom setup:

http://www.frets.com/HomeShopTech/Proje ... ttach.html

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Cheers,

Frank Ford
HomeShopTech

Frank. When I saw that clamp I Knew I had to look at the link. Great and you have helped many who consider this. That was bold yet correct to cut/slit the clamp and housing clamp at once. Peace

I have not found any movement on the right angle attachment if you get a jam or some other mishap. I managed to jam a ¾ X 4” deep cylinder mill and take a chip off the flute but never bothered the attachment.

I also regularly use a 2” face mill with about 50 thou cuts with no problem either. The clamping arrangement on the attachment gets a very good hold so I have not seen any problems. As to slitting saws I have used them also with no frights.

I hope Chief doesn't mind me asking an additional question since it's his thread but,

Frank,
While I don't have a R/A attachment yet, I do want to get one. Due to my ceiling highth I'm about 2" short of being able to pull the draw bar out and to do so I need to rotate the mills head. That of course throws the tram out. Using a R/A attachment requires a longer drawbar, So it really would be a large pain to rotate the mill head and retram every time the drawbar gets changed. Maybe I woke up much more stupid than usual, But I'm just not understanding how your modification allows the use of the standard length drawbar. Maybe I missed something on your website. Any chance you could clue in the clueless? If the spindle housing clamp for the R/A atachment is the standard highth, Then I just can't figure out how the standard length drawbar works. I'm mentaly preparing myself for a "DUH" moment once the answer is revealed.

By the way, That's a clever way to align the head using the vice itself.

Pete

The horizontal milling attachment clamps to the mill's quill, so the quill needs to be extended some 3-4" in order for the attachment to go on. Once the quill is lowered, the drawbar no longer reaches far enough down. That's why I cut the collar apart on my attachment - so it could be reassembled and attached separately. SO, now I can insert the driven end of the attachment up into the spindle, tighten it with the drawbar, and then lower the quill enough to get the clamping collar back in place.

_________________
Cheers,

Frank Ford
HomeShopTech

"Click", Yes it was a "Duh" moment. Thanks for the clarification Frank. I appreciate it.

Pete