I'm just a hobby machinist working with machines that a modern machine shop would consider to be outdated, but I managed to cut my first splines yesterday. I used the DD machine spline cutter. No red star, but I'll link to the photos.
The splines:
http://members.tcq.net/jnutter/splines1.jpg http://members.tcq.net/jnutter/splines2.jpg
The fit is really nice. I had to go around more than once becuase it was too tight on the first pass, but after a couple adjustments it fit great. It's about the same as a stock Dana spline, or maybe just a hair tighter. I've got my depth of cut down now. Future splines will be easier.
Here's my setup:
http://members.tcq.net/jnutter/setup.jpg
That's an old horizontal mill that I paid $95 for. The 50 NMTB to R8 adapter was $100, the R8 collet was about $7 and the indxer was about $200 with shipping from a guy on e-bay. You can check out the vendors section for info on the cutter. I've also got a small Bridgeport, but the horizontal is a lot more rigid and I think it's easier to set up for this job too.
In addition to the mill, you need a big rigid lathe and a tool holder with a carbide insert to cut the major diameter for the splines and the sealing surface. My lathe was built around 1950, with an actual swing of 19 1/2". It probably weighs over 4000 lb. A lathe that 4 guys can lift into the back of a pickup won't do the job here. Carbide needs rigidity, and some serious mass doesn't hurt either. I used an MCLNr tool with a one inch shank and a CNMG422 insert for all the turning. .019" for roughing and .003" for the sealing surface. The good news is that the big old lathes tend to be cheaper becuase shops aren't interested in them becuase of their age and most hobby people would rather pay $1200 for a tiny Southbend that they can move themselves, vs $900 for a good sized lathe and $300 for someone to move it.
I also made my own 30 slot plate for the indexer:
http://members.tcq.net/jnutter/indxplt.jpg
The index plate was a part of an XJ rotor in it's former life. I used my M-head Bridgeport (some people call them the Baby Bridgeport) with a 3/8" end mill and a horizontal rotary table to index and cut the slots. The rotay table was graduated in mintes on the dial (60 minutes to a degree), and the plate seems to be plenty accurate.
Like I said at the top, I'm just a hobby guy. This is something I've wanted to since I narrowed my first Dana 44 front housing in... 1997 or 1998, it's been a while. I didn't do this to go into business, and I don't have the time or desire to do work for other people. I certainly didn't think I'd save any money or time. I'd have to go through a lot of shafts before I broke even versus sending the shafts to Dutchman. I just did it becuase I wanted to learn more about maching and becuase I wanted to see if I could do it. And becuase I like old machine shop machines.
