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Grooving on Bridgeport

JohnMessineo

Plastic
Joined
Feb 17, 2016
This may seem a silly question, but I’ll ask anyway. I need to make a 4” diameter groove in a piece of flat acrylic material. The grove will serve as a recess for a gasket in the lid for a vacuum chamber. The chamber is schedule 40 PVC. I don’t have a lathe, only a Bridgeport.
My boring head will only do 3”.
Do I need to make my own tool, or is the a tool (such as a boring bar with a 90 degree angle) for this purpose.
 
Most boring heads have a cross hole that will accept a lathe style boring bar. If yours will do this buy/make a bar and grind a HSS cutter to suit. Low RPM, slow feed, perhaps using the knee rather than the spindle.
 
Make a sliding "T" bar for your boring head and use a piece of HSS. It will come in handy for other things as well.
 
As others said, use the cross hole in your boring head with a HSS tool ground for the groove. Turn the spindle by hand, advancing the tool after 2 or 3 revs.
 
The problem I see with using the cross hole is it doesn’t give me enough clearance. The tool is basically at the same level as the bottom of the boring head...I suppose I could bend some HsS to give myself enough clearance.
 
A dimensioned sketch of exactly what you need to achieve would help, along with a specification of your boring head and a clarification of what the "clearance" problem is.

-Marty-
 
I have found with large tools such as you are using it is better to feed up with the knee than try to use the quill. If you must feed with the quill, keep the quill stop nut up tight. Pull the quill handle down against the stop nut, release, and then readjust the nut to give another .001. Rinse and repeat.
 
I tend to use the knee almost exclusively—unless drilling, or boring with the auto feed. I find it gives me way more control!
 
I tend to use the knee almost exclusively—unless drilling, or boring with the auto feed. I find it gives me way more control!

Yeah, once you're set up, lock the quill and feed up with the knee; that's what they're made for. When feeding a tool like
that "down" with the quill there is a good chance that it will grab and pull into the workpiece...
 
I suppose It's not according to Hoyle, But I've used allen wrenches in my boring head to cut aluminum. Seemed to cut very well, I suppose it has more to do with grinding a proper tool form and edge, Dave [acme thread]
 
Thanks everyone for you input...I have ordered a tool from amazon, I will let you know how it works!..BTW, that Allen wrench idea is great!
 








 
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