Sourcing Metal | General Discussion

[YYCHM]

Edit: I think I know what you mean now after thinking about it.

I don't Explain it to me now please. I probably don't appreciate what kind of tool you need.

 

[DavidR8]

I don't Explain it to me now please. I probably don't appreciate what kind of tool you need.

I need a form tool that cuts this shape in the end of a 5/8" rod.

@RobinHood is suggesting that I put a ball nose endmill in a boring bar holder and use it to form the radius on the rod by moving the Z and X axis

 

[YYCHM]

I need a form tool that cuts this shape in the end of a 5/8" rod.
View attachment 14196
@RobinHood is suggesting that I put a ball nose endmill in a boring bar holder and use it to form the radius on the rod by moving the Z and X axis

So you need a 5/8" rod with a rounded end? Why?

 

[DavidR8]

It's for the floating vise handle.
I need to put the radius on the part with the pin.

 

[YYCHM]

It's for the floating vise handle.
I need to put the radius on the part with the pin.
View attachment 14197

Time to make a ball turning attachment for your lathe.

 

[DPittman]

Guess you don't have a ball turner yet. Put that on your project list.

 

[DPittman]

Well it ain't a precise way of doing it but... I have put a nice round end on lots of rod by chucking it in a hand drill and then taking it to the belt sander or grinding stone. It sounds crude but it actually can turn out well.

 

[DavidR8]

Time to make a ball turning attachment for your lathe.

Like I need another project!
My project list also includes a straddle knurler for which I've had the parts for a year...

 

[PeterT]

I don't have a ton of experience with those large radii tools but I find them fiddly to make & more-so to make cut properly without rubbing. A ball turning tool is really the weapon of choice, but if you just have the occasional part & its not crucial to have perfect geometry, you can just do a series of in-feed cuts, blue it, then round it smooth with abrasive until the blue is gone. That's how I did the nose case for my radial. So you could similarly do custom profiles for which you will never find a cutter. It does help if you have a CAD program to compute the X-Y intercepts, but circular steps can be done with a hand calculator.

 

[Dabbler]

David I don't think you need a special tool. call me. it is very easy to do on your mill, not your lathe.

 

[DavidR8]

Thanks gents, as always the group comes through with a raft of awesome ideas!

 

[RobinHood]

it is very easy to do on your mill, not your lathe.

Spindexer at an angle up from horizontal to the table and a boring head?

 

[Dabbler]

I was thinking aof a version of rotate-around the pin technique with a normal milling cutter. easy, quick.

 

[buckbrush]

I just use a file and one of my lathes.

 

[Alexander]

This short piece of brass showed up at my work in a box labeled Fragile handle with care. I had a good laugh. I don't think this could get damaged in shipping. Even Canada post couldn't break this.

 

[kevin.decelles]

But Canada post could probably ship that across Canada and back by mistake….. don’t underestimate their true strengths


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CalgaryPT]

For those of us old experienced enough to remember the joke:

 

[Susquatch]

Hey guys, I didn't read the whole thread but I have a suggestion for buying "rod" and "bar".

There is a farm supply shop near me where I can get bolts in a plethora of sizes real cheap. I buy bolts (and sometimes nuts) there of various grades (stainless too), chop the heads off, turn off the threads and voila - real cheap bar for my projects.

Gotta be lots of farm supply shops near Calgary. Farm equipment wrecking yards also have plate. It might be a chore to cut out what you need but it's often times available for less than the cost of scrap metal.

 

[SparWeb]

Hello,
I'm still new here, so I will start reading this thread for its long history.
I'm having a TLDR moment with this thread, but I'll get over it because there's probably some gems hiding in here.

Before I dive into reading this whole (long) thread, is there a summary somewhere that I can use?
For work, I need to source materials and processes as well (laser cutting, anodizing, composite bonding, etc) and I 'd like to find out when new players enter or leave the field (in Alberta especially).

Suggestion: Anybody compiling a Google sheet? Does on already exist? Looks like a big enough audience here for that to be very valuable.

 

[Susquatch]

Hello,
I'm still new here, so I will start reading this thread for its long history.
I'm having a TLDR moment with this thread, but I'll get over it because there's probably some gems hiding in here.

Before I dive into reading this whole (long) thread, is there a summary somewhere that I can use?
For work, I need to source materials and processes as well (laser cutting, anodizing, composite bonding, etc) and I 'd like to find out when new players enter or leave the field (in Alberta especially).

Suggestion: Anybody compiling a Google sheet? Does on already exist? Looks like a big enough audience here for that to be very valuable.

Lots of opportunities here and elsewhere in other threads here on the forum for that. Haven't seen anything though.

I earmark threads I want to reference in future by sending myself an email with a link to the thread and a subject that I can search.