Cut Knurling for the Home Shop Machinist
Cut knurling-- a not-so-well-known alternative to the more common pressure or form knurling, is described in detail in this video--what it is, and how to do it.
For those looking for more info on pressure/form knurling, I describe in another video ( • Making a Knurled Knob ) the technique for achieving consistently perfect results.
Пікірлер: 96
Wow, that was the most impressive demonstration and explanation of knurling I’ve ever seen. So much information you want to watch it twice ! Thanks for such a detailed presentation.
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
Thank you so much!
i was an CNC lathe operator for over 10 years and didn't know about this kind of technique edit: cut knurling
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
It seems that this technique is not as widely known as it should be.
Very nice! I've always found cut knurling tools to be rather exotic and expensive. This setup seems more approachable.
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
Yes, the tool can be a straightforward do-it-yourself project.
Excellent presentation. Cut knurlers are the bees knees
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
Yes indeed.
@mpetersen6
18 күн бұрын
I think most machinists, tool makers etc don't even know these exist. I always hated knurling until l learned about these. All we had was the standard pressure knurlers and those were old and dull.
I loved the video, I have not seen this covered before. I learned alot. Thanks for an excellent video.
@ypaulbrown
20 күн бұрын
me too
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
Thanks, glad it was helpful.
Pfah! Us old-school machinist do it by hand with gun stock checkering tools. Seriously, though, nice work and very informative. Thanks for sharing it.
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
😁
Thank you Michael, more knurling information here than I have ever seen in all my reading and watching videos.... cheers from Central Florida, Paul
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
This just popped up in my feed. Great stuff here Mike.I will have to see what else you have here on You Tube. Cheers
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
Thanks for stopping by.
Great video! I’ve never heard of this technique before and I don’t know why. It may not be as quick but I t looks so much better than form knurling. I’m sure it will be easier on my spindle bearings also. Thanks.
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
Thanks for stopping by.
@mpetersen6
18 күн бұрын
Cut knurling when properly set up is actually faster than regular knurling tools. Regular diamond knurls require two cutters. One above and one below the centerline. SPI used to sell the tooling as does Hardinge to fit their own style quick change tool post for the HLV lathes. There may be some info in one of Hardinge's online catalogs. I would have to look if SPI (1) is even in business anymore. Looking up cut knurling on line Dorian and others sell them 🤌$$$🤌. Gadet Builder website has an article on building your own. But you would likely need to buy the wheels themselves. 1) Swiss Precision Instuments.
@mpetersen6
18 күн бұрын
Definitely easier on the machine
Thank you for a clear & very well explained, demystification of cut knurling.
@mikelevyonline
17 күн бұрын
Thanks for stopping by, glad you found it informative.
Superb tutorial! I have always had mixed sucess with pressure formed knurling; this method is the answer. Thank you!.
@mikelevyonline
17 күн бұрын
Glad it was helpful, thanks for stopping by.
Excellent! Detailed video on a topic not well covered.
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
Glad it was helpful!
Absolutely immaculate knurls. Thank you. Just one small suggestion: There is a slight pop in your microphone recordings. Other than that, perfect. Thank you.
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
Thanks, and yes, I need to acquire a better microphone.
Great video, learned lots of things! Thanks!
@mikelevyonline
19 күн бұрын
Glad you found it informative.
Thank you for the video, very informative and well presented.
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
Just PERFECT ! .....Thank you !
@mikelevyonline
21 күн бұрын
Glad you liked it!
Wow I learned something new, cool!
@mikelevyonline
14 күн бұрын
Thanks, glad you found it informative.
I wish you'd made this video a month or so ago, heh. I've been playing with cut knurling but getting the angle and center height right is tricky. Also I'm using the regular cheap import knurl wheels with the bevel ground flat. Seems to work alright in aluminium but quite janky when used on mild steel. Also the whole process is incredibly messy with fine dust all over which gives me second thoughts... PS: thanks for making this video, very informative
@mikelevyonline
21 күн бұрын
You’ll probably get better results on steel with a name-brand knurling wheel. I find that the clearance angle isn’t all that critical. As for center height, make yourself a dummy knurling wheel with no teeth. Sandwich a straight machinist’s rule between the dummy and a small diameter (say 10mm or 3/8in) workpiece. Adjust the dummy knurl height up or down so that the rule is perpendicular to the cross slide, at which point the knurl will be on-center. Any way you slice it, knurling is messy.
@ypaulbrown
20 күн бұрын
@@mikelevyonline thanks,,,really enjoyed this
@HM-Projects
20 күн бұрын
@@mikelevyonline I tried again with some of your tips in the video and it does indeed produce nice crisp knurls on aluminium I think the compressed air helps a fair bit but it makes a god awful mess. I've ordered a pair of accutrak form knurling wheels to try out and will probably end up making an Aloris AT19 clone.
👍Great Video 👍
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
Thank you!
Brilliant! Thanks for sharing.
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
My pleasure!
I gues 'tubalcain mrpete machinist' would call these knurls crisp. I had an idea to make one of these clamp knurling tools, but for what. This is perfect.
What a fantastic video
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
Thanks so much!
Really excellent video! I notice that when cutting the diamond knurl second cut, the spindle is rotating in the conventional direction on commencing the first pass (18.55) but is reversed when it stops (19.22) which is a clever trick! I can understand the reverse direction as the work is then approaching the flat cutting face of the knurl.
@mikelevyonline
19 күн бұрын
A very astute observation. Yes, it works better if the spindle is reversed on the second cut (something I failed to mention in the video), however, by habit I started the spindle in the forward direction, stopped it, then put it in reverse, and just removed that section from the video, as I try to avoid subjecting the viewer to unnecessary footage.
18:55 surely the second cut for the diamond pattern requires the spindle to run clockwise, so that it cuts rather than forms the thread? I note it is doing so in the second pass.
We had a cut knurling setup for the Hardinge HLVs were i retired from. One thing that would sometimes need to be allowed for was extra diameter on diameter being knurled. For quick and dirty knurls on jobs that were non spec. Personal or special hand tools being made for production use. Knurled heads on screws etc. Hand knurlers are nice too. But cut knurling beats all methods hands down
Very impressive video, I just with more KZread creators could make videos like this.
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
Thank you for the very gracious comment.
The knurles are so clean they look like splines or gears.
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
Thanks for stopping by.
awesome work
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
Thanks, I appreciate your comment.
If making you own holders for cut knurlers l would suggest machining the cutting relief into the body of the holder. For dovetal type tool posts l personally always prefered to set them at 0° offeet as my insert tooling was then at the proper orientation. My HSS tooling was also ground to be in the correct orientation. All of my threading and chamfering tools in HSS as well as special grooving and trappaning tools for O-Ring grooves were finish ground on a surface grinder in fixtures purpose made.
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
That idea has merit-I also like to position my tool holders at 90 degrees to the spindle axis, however if I want to change the clearance angle of the cut knurler I would prefer to rotate the tool inside the holder rather than rotate the entire tool post.
@mpetersen6
18 күн бұрын
@@mikelevyonline The primary reason l started doing it was to eliminate the adjusting the tool post constantly. I had my own A series tool post and l ground the inside face of the tool slot parallel with the faces of the dovetail. The drawings we would get in the last years before l retired started coming in with chamfers anywhere from 10° to 45°. So l made up ones with 45, 30, 25, 20 and 15°. For threading tools I had blocks for 60°, 29° Acme and 60° offset 30° for internal threading. For odd angles and form tools l used a block with a rotating head with a 7° clearance angle built in.
Looks like hand filed checkering. Nice
Very informative thanks
@mikelevyonline
19 күн бұрын
Thanks, glad it was helpful.
Nice
good looking knurl
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
Thanks!
Wow, what a great video! Thank you! A couple of questions: 1) can pressure knurling tools be ground flat (removing the chamfer) for use as a cut knurling tool? 2) on the shop-made round-shank cut knurl tool holder, is it important to put the flat for the knurling tool at the center of the round shank? 3) lastly, can knurls be used to create rotary broach tools to cut female splines, or are the forms different?
@mikelevyonline
19 күн бұрын
1) Yes. 2) No, but if you're doing a lot of diamond knurling, it's wise to place the point of knurl/workpiece contact on the shank/head axis, so you don't have to reset the center height when the tool is rotated to the second position. 3. The forms are different.
Never seen that before.
Excellent vid 😊 One question. If you think of the knurled part like a gear or spline, will it sometimes create like a half knurl or tooth? Or is it always cutting a full knurl? Or is there a way of calculating based on the material diameter?
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
My experience is that it will track on any random diameter, thus always cutting a full knurl.
Great video, very clearly explained, thank you. I've been machining for over sixty years and learned something! Two questions- with normal knurling there is a relationship between the pitch of the wheels and the diameter of the work piece, doe that apply here? Also, if you put a cut on and feed the tool gently in, will it not pick up on the already cut bit as it is like a little gear? Third question, are you metric? Thanks again, Al.
@mikelevyonline
19 күн бұрын
I find that the knurling wheel will track on any random diameter, and yes, it will pick up on the cut made by the previous pass. My lathe is imperial, with dual imperial/metirc dials.
The best video by far that I've seen explaining cut knurling! Do you not, however, have to reverse the lathe spindle when cutting the left handed side of the angled knurl?
@npalen
19 күн бұрын
Edit: Looking again, I see that you did reverse the spindle.
@mikelevyonline
19 күн бұрын
You are correct. I accidentally started the spindle forward, then reversed it, but didn't include the switch in the video.
@npalen
19 күн бұрын
@@mikelevyonline I'm wondering how the dual cutter knurling tools work since the workpiece only rotates in one direction.
@mikelevyonline
19 күн бұрын
@@npalen Great observation. It may have something to do with the knurls being considerably above and below the centerline.
Inspiring! Do you find that using compressed air as shown tends to force the chips into the slides, etc?
@mikelevyonline
17 күн бұрын
No, but it is a bit messy.
Nice! Could the knurling wheel be cut with the proper tooth profile for cutting gear teeth instead of simple knurling? Asking for a friend.
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
In principle I suppose it’s possible.
Great video - thank you! It’s still not entirely clear to me how the cutting action happens. I understand that it’s at the edge of the wheel that is angled into the material. But I don’t understand yet the precise geometry: what are the rake angles, clearance angles, and which edge exactly is the cutting edge?
@mikelevyonline
20 күн бұрын
That's a great question, and I believe there are very few people on this planet who can answer it. Nevertheless, the process works, and works well.
@thomasherbig
19 күн бұрын
It’s the kind of thing you want to explore with a slow-mo camera and a macro lens (I love those videos). BTW, I’m super-impressed by how clean the knurls are. With the standard method, even when very well-done, you can still always see that the material is gouged.
Sweeeet🎉
how dose the knerl tool pick up the same groove im lost on this part
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
It just naturally falls into the track made on the previous pass.
Wonder if this is how car manufactures cut splines, would be fast
@truey90s
19 күн бұрын
First thought when I saw the cut knurlong was a spline . Wonder if you could make a internal one to make a planetary gearset with one
I'm watching this in depth but still can't see how it's doing the cutting... How is the knurl wheel cutting if it's turning with the workpiece... I'm a bit baffled.
@mikelevyonline
19 күн бұрын
Remember that the knurl wheel is also moving laterally with respect to the workpiece, and this is the main impetus for the shearing action that takes place.
Nice
@mikelevyonline
18 күн бұрын
Thanks for stopping by.