What Boring head?

[KC2IXE]

Hi gang,
There are enough metal manglers here to answer this one - I'm thinking of getting a new boring head for my mill. right now I have a "shop made" boring head - quite nice, but not as consistant as I would like

I'd like to buy a 3" or so (say 2.5" - 3.5") boring head. Now, of course, I'd LOVE a criterium boring/facing head, but my wallet will NOT allow for that

So, what do you guys recommend for a good, relatively inexpensive head?

 

[tvodrd]

Criterian (made here in Costa Mesa) is the cat's meow, but there are good copies out there and relatively cheap. You will find a 2" to be quite adaquate. I've bored 4"+ dia using a bar in the head's cross hole. If your mill uses R8 collets, I recommend getting a 3/4" straight shank for it, and cutting it off to ~2" as opposed to the R8 shank. Same for drill chucks. It saves a lot of cranking the knee up and down!

WJ6I :D

 

[Vee3]

A Criterion is the way to go if you can wait to find one used. Another very nice one I have is an old Bridgeport with an integral R8 shank.

All of the cheapie ones I've seen recently have soft steel parts. This is not what you want for precision and long life. A boring head should be made to similar standards as a precision measuring tool. A Chinese one may be perfectly fine for occasional use, but I'd want a good one even for that. I'd buy a used Criterion for twice (Or more) than I'd pay for any new Chinese import I've seen.

 

[KC2IXE]

Funny,
I've bought many used tools on ebay, but never thought of looking for a boring head there - won a Criterion, and it's on the way - not a 1/10th set, but hey...