One for the Engineers in the room - head skimming

[aaronjb]

Random question of the day:

Dedicated machines for skimming heads exist - they look like big single-purpose milling machines, to me, with a giant fly-cutter head.

Is there any reason you couldn't strap a head down to a suitably large general-purpose vertical mill (like a Bridgeport) and skim the head with any fly cutter large enough to clear the complete head surface? I can't think of one, but maybe I'm missing some Machinist Devilry..

</random thought of the day>

[Doctor Gollum]

Could the weight of the head pull the support plate of vertical far enough to cause a discrepancy one end to other

[aaronjb]

It's possible that a Bridgeport wouldn't be rigid enough - heads are sizeable castings and I don't know (since I don't have one, sad times) what kind of parallelism and accuracy you could get out of a well maintained Bridgeport (knackered old examples excluded, obviously, which is probably most of them at this point!) vs a head-skimming machine..

[Nick W]

If the mill is properly trammed, and has enough table travel there's no reason why you can't skim a head with one.
Just like you can bore a motor cycle cylinder in a lathe.


The specialist equipment for this sort of work is to save time, and make a better job easier.

[aaronjb]

If the mill is properly trammed, and has enough table travel there's no reason why you can't skim a head with one.
Just like you can bore a motor cycle cylinder in a lathe.


The specialist equipment for this sort of work is to save time, and make a better job easier.

Thought that would probably be the case ..  Not that I'd fit anything but a tiny bike pot on my little Myford and I farmed my engine work out to someone who knows what they're doing.. but I was curious

[Nick W]

If the mill is properly trammed, and has enough table travel there's no reason why you can't skim a head with one.
Just like you can bore a motor cycle cylinder in a lathe.


The specialist equipment for this sort of work is to save time, and make a better job easier.

Thought that would probably be the case ..  Not that I'd fit anything but a tiny bike pot on my little Myford and I farmed my engine work out to someone who knows what they're doing.. but I was curious

A car cylinder head is going to really stretch a Bridgeport size mill, as you need a cutter large enough to cover the width in one pass and enough table travel to clear both ends. Fixturing could be tricky too.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Of course you can, the guy I used to get heads skimmed by had a big Bridgport and used nothing else (and he skimmed stacks of heads), when measured after they were spot on.

[aaronjb]

*pines quietly for a Bridgeport, knackered or otherwise*

[Nick W]

*pines quietly for a Bridgeport, knackered or otherwise*

It's not the mill, but having space for one. I bought the biggest lathe I had room for, and it's still a benchtop job; I don't really have room for the mini-mill, but it's necessary. I'd like a bandsaw too, and a permanent spot for the benchgrinder that isn't a shelf over the cellar door....