Homemade endmill holders for TTS system (double the rigidity of standard tts chucks)

[dovidu]

I used TTS ER20 holders for endmills previously.

It lacked rigidity when milling steel.

this is because TTS Er holders are designed quite inefficiently.

there's unnecessary stickout right below the spindle nose registering area



I decided, in order to maximize rigidity, I should get rid of all unnecessary part that lengthens the tool.

therefore, the most efficient design is endmill holder type, which holds specific endmill holder shank size.



also, the registering shouldn't register the spindle nose.

instead the tool should register the flat part of TTS collet inside the spindle.

i was able to reduce futher by doing so.



TTS ER20 + 8.5mm endmill = 95mm from spindle nose.

homemade endmill holder design = 45mm from spindle nose.



the result is roughly 2X the rigidity.

not only the tool is shorter, but the spindle is also lower. which lowers Z column flexing.



for industrial type machines, such as bridgeport, TTS might still have enough rigidity.

however, for most hobbiests and mid sized machine, rigidity cannot be sacrificed, especially when machining steel.

hack, even bridgeport needs more rigidity, when machining demanding materials.



this holder design achieves both benefits of:

simple, fast, and easy to use TTS system

maximum rigidity achievable by your milling machine (shortest tool stick out possible)



hope this might help others achieve better rigidity for their machining projects!



below is the pictures of the endmill holders and a 50 minute long video, that includes almost every process and details for making this endmill holder.

[DIYer]

Thanks dovidu! We've added your Endmill Holder to our Milling category,
as well as to your builder page: dovidu's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Endmill Holder by dovidu

tags: milling, holder

[wizard69]

Nice set of adapters. A good idea for somebody that doesn't want to go full TTS.


As for your comments / advice about the gloves, all I can do is to urge you to change your opinion. Note that I'm talking from experience here and frankly got lucky in that a belt slipped instead of body parts being ripped off. Still did enough damage through hyper extension that it took awhile to recover. Beleive the the cold sweat from nearly going into shock is no fun!

So gloves and machine tools don't mix no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise!!!!!!