For those that just can’t put a square peg in a round hole, there’s rotary broaching – a milling method that produces a hexagonal or other polygonal holes. First, a pilot hole is drilled into the work piece, followed by a chamfer at the top – chamfering is not necessary, but for a better quality broach, it is highly recommended.

Our Speeder is a great option for doing small end mill work on a lower RPM spindle.  Its a mechanical RPM increaser that takes whatever the speed of the primary machine spindle is and multiplies it 3x.  On the PCNC 1100, that means that 5000 RPM becomes 15000 RPM.  For the PCNC 770, you can take 10000RPM up to 30000RPM, although we rate the device for that speed for short duty cycles.  Continuous operation should be limited to 20000RPM. The Speeder really excels at small pocketing and engraving applications.  Here's an example of a small engraving around a bar that we did for a recent product demonstration.

  You can set up a companion spindle with our Horizontal Spindle Arm Mount for milling in the XZ (G18) or YZ (G19) plane.  This can be a great technique for doing light milling on the end of a very long workpiece.  In this episode of Tormach Fab Lab, Mike C. demonstrates how to get this setup right.

  Here's part 2 of our Boring Head Basics video, OD turning

Let there be light! Thanks for this tip from reader Bill B. in Canada - he found the following spindle light clamp from Princess Auto and says it works great on his PCNC 1100 Spindle:

My first SuperSoft Jaw movie was a good example for thin parts. But it neglected to show another strength - securely holding on to delicate objects for light machine work.