Custom Cutter Uses broken carbide end mills

I haven't posted anything in a while. I thought some people might be able to use this idea.

When I got my turret, one of the boring bar holders had been crashed pretty good. The bore was all messed up and the holder smashed down and back. Dorian is rather proud of these little gems, so I had a pretty good incentive to try to salvage it. At first I thought about pressing a steel bush into it, bore it out and just use it for Deming drills. Then while talking to a friend of mine we hatched a plan to make a boring head (I don't have one that would work for this.) The idea was to use a piece of high speed steel. Then it occurred to me that I have a lifetime supply of broken or otherwise ruined .25 in. solid carbide end mills. My dad is into lapidary work and has a diamond saw and grinders. The light bulb went off.

So here is the result. I used a piece of drill rod, drilled and reamed a hole for the carbide. Drilled and tapped for a set screw. Ground the cutter as shown from the shank of an end mill. Set it up in the machine. The first cut was fantastic. I got a little bit of chatter on the subsequent cuts, but it works. I don't plan to use this holder for any precision work, but it will hold a drill just fine to poke a hole for a boring bar.

So not really exciting, but potentially useful.

Monty