Milling Machine handle -2

So, after my brush with a self induced limb avulsion on the CNC lathe yesterday, today I continued to make the handle to replace the one which I broke a few days ago.

Firstly I cut off the extraneous hex stock from the partly CNC turned handle so I could mount the piece closer to the 3 jaw chuck, thus reducing the distance between centers.

That substantially reduced the flexing of the workpiece and improved the surface finish.

The photo above shows the improved mounting method, including a 3d printed spider. The tailstock has been moved to improve the photo. The CNC turning is finished.

Then I turned the hex stub into a 20mm shaft which could be held in my CNC rotary table on the mill.

I neglected to take any photos of that setup. On the mill I machined the flats on the handle, then drilled the 16mm and 8.0mm holes, and tapped a 3/8″ thread to attach the handle.

Finally used a 1/8″ broaching tool to make the slot for the key.

Then installed the handle on the mill.

The new handle in place. Works perfectly. Looks OK. Maybe needs to be chromed? Does anyone do chroming these days?