Annular Cutter Arbor From R8 3/4" End Mill Holder

[jjr2001]

I bought this 20mm by 50mm long carbide tipped annular cutter for cutting brass round from flat.
The cutter was a steel on ebay for about 12 bucks. Nice thing about the annular cutter is the
reduced power required to drill a hole and the nice chunk of material you get instead of just chips.
Worked great just by holding it in a 3/4" r8 collet for brass. But I knew better than to try that with steel and
it should be locked into the holder for cutting any material.
Not willing to order up an arbor for the cutter I tried the fit into my r8 3/4" end mill holder.
It fit like a glove but the flats would not enter far enough to engage with the set screw.


Ok, the annular cutter has two flats at 90 degrees (not shown in the picture). It also has a ridge
that prevents it from slipping upward into the holder. The set screw in the end mill holder would
not engage the flats on the annular cutter.

That left only one thing to do. I heated it as hot as I could get it (just short of cherry red) in the
area where I wanted to drill a hole for my new "annular cutter set screw". The flat was ground on the
outside of the holder first. Just did that by hand on the bench grinder.

After it cooled, I checked and it was soft enough to drill with a HSS drill bit.

So you can see the results. A two purpose R8 arbor. Saved some money and
got my new arbor in a couple of hours instead of 5 days for shipping.

Cheers, JR

[Frank S]

yes chunks win over chips every time for me. I just don't have enough annular cutter sizes yet

[jjr2001]

Thanks Frank, I too like the "bonus material" left after the annular cutter has done it's work.
Constantly on the lookout on line for good pricing on them.
So far I only have two but I am not done yet.

Cheers, JR

[Frank S]

Thanks Frank, I too like the "bonus material" left after the annular cutter has done it's work.
Constantly on the lookout on line for good pricing on them.
So far I only have two but I am not done yet.

Cheers, JR

Yes the slugs come in handy for many things. I often make spacer washers out of mine

[rossbotics]

Where there is a will there is a way!!

Doug

[Radioman]

I’ve also done this in my small machine shop. I inherited about 50 annular cutters from my late father who was an ironworker. Did you try to drill your hole with a carbide end mill? I would figure a carbide would’ve gone right through that three-quarter holder like butter? My end mill holders don’t seem to be that hard that they wouldn’t yield to a carbide end mill. My Bridgeport is a 1 hp three-phase that I’m running on a solid-state inverter so I’m only getting about 2/3 of a horsepower out of it. Any annular cutter bigger than 1 inch I have to be real careful with or I’ll stall my motor. Someday I’ll update to a 2 hp single phase. Maybe before I diet not.

[jjr2001]

I did not have any carbide center cutting end mills on hand so I just used a torch and the HSS drill bit.
It cut ok but not like 1018!
Then there is the issue of the tap...All of mine are HSS!

Actually I have been looking to purchase a small set of carbide drill bits.
One of these days I will have a set.

Cheers, JR

[owen moore]

I love annular cutters. Believe me when I say that when you are boring/drilling larger holes (3/4" on up), these cutters are the way to go. They require a lot less torque and make a lot fewer chips. Buy new or used anytime you can. You will like them.

[rendoman]

I never tried anular cutters, are they so good? Here I can find big tools for wall port, I've never seen small size tools
Nice to learn new things!

[jjr2001]

You can find them on eBay,Amazon,MSC,McMaster Carr, or most any machinist supply house.
Cheers, JR