pedestal milling?

[spokeshave]

time to de-lurk

can anyone out there help me identify something i saw used on american chopper? it seemed to be a milling bit in a pedestal drill, they used to to shape the ends of pipes so the end of the milled pipe would fit the curve of another piece of pipe to make a bike frame. and it wasn't a milling bit, or an abused drill

i've searched for everything i can think to call it, but nothing.

so, any light any of you could shine on this would be very welcome

 

[Paul.]

Hi
I havnt seen the program, but it sounds like a rotabroach, or a rotabore cutter http://www.rotabroach.co.uk/en/products/cutters/default.aspx

 

[JayRS4]

Are you talking about tube notching? I`ve never found a (cheap) decent way of doing it myself, so would be very interested, although my needs for such a thing are so occasional that usually a sanding drum of the right size and the pipe help and fed at the right angle will suffice.

 

[spokeshave]

i don't really know what tube notching is (i could guess, but i could easily be wrong, and confuse matters further)
i've got a nasty feeling that TIG Paul's rotabroach, or the US equivalent, is what i'm thinking about, not a pedestal drill at all

thanks anyway

 

[fingers99]

Not had time to follow up the link, but a lot of tube notching tools work in a pillar drill (you could use a mill, too. Think the broach could do the job in either (I've been known to use a milling cutter in a pedestal drill).

If you do a google for "tubing notcher" all kinds of different kit pops up: some are even like nibblers and take a small bite out of the tube at a time.

 

[wyn]

It will most likely have been a hole saw with the pilot drill removed.

I have just been using one which has a clamp that can be angled and is driven by an electric drill.

 

[Wozzaaah]

The ones they use on american chopper look like a cross between a rotabroach bit and a milling cutter. they use them side on, pushing the tube against the cutter, they don't 'plunge' the cutter through the tube.
They have a proper 'fishmouthing' machine for it but I've also seen them use the cutters in a pedestal drill. I don't think that's recommended practice though, pedestal drills aren't really designed to handle sideways loads which is why they don't work well as milling machines.

 

[Archie]

Ive not seen much American Chopper but I think they use Baileigh kit since there are pictures of them all over the catalogue I have. Process of deduction, eh! I guess the bit you see them using in the drill comes from this machine. I guess...!

 

[Wozzaaah]

That's the one Archie

 

[Phil@mpliron]

Hi All
Is this of any use to you spoke shave
http://www.chesteruk.net/store/tube_notcher.htm

It's seem to be out of stock at the moment, but J&L Industrial have had this chester one in their promotional flyer lately.

Cheers Phil

 

[spokeshave]

thanks phil, i'll certainly look into it

 

[hareng]

Certainly wouldnt want to use a hole saw on tube, it will skate off or at best cut massive. Even if tube was left long and a pilot drill used to centre it would still cut big. Need low revs as well.
Holesaws are bad enough on flat surfaces until a certain depth is achieved, always veer off in direction of the torque in a miller, use them all the time.

Depends how many tube joints you have to do but if you only have a driller i would use a ripper cutter (hss cobalt etc wont last) between centres to avoid the lateral movement drillers dont like. Make up a jig to slide tube in to cutter hoping cutter dont drop out!

Always done them in a miller with correct dia cutter.

 

[Weldingartisan]

Hole saws in a drill press work fine for notching tube as long as the tube is clamped securely. A rotabroach or endmill in a mill will do a more accurate job though. W/A