LionHeadGuy
Plastic
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2023
So maybe i can get some advice on a better way to get my desired results.
The finished parts measure about 2.375 long by .375 wide and .135 thick. They will be the handles for minature knives.
The original plan was to get a 2.5"x6'x.1875 piece of 304 stainless, cut it into 6.5" strips then deck them to thickness, drill and countersink some holes and then place them on a fixture to cut out the individual handles.
Well I was able to make my fixture plate and all was good until I started trying to deck the 304. I think part of my problem might be related to the tooling i have at hand. I planned to use a 2" shell mill with apkt inserts to remove about .02 and then come in with a flycutter and make a single .005 finish pass. Flip and repeat until they were at final thickness.
I ordered some inserts that would work better in stainless than what i had on hand and Im happy to say I was able to get an acceptable surface finish and good sounding cut out of the shell mill. The fly cutter hasnt worked quite so well though. I havent been able to get anything close to the results im looking for. Either the finish isnt good enough or it starts out great then goes to hell cause the insert chipped midway through. I have tried a range of feeds and speeds, cut with and without coolant and, tried a few different depths of cut Inserts might be the issue as they are tpg inserts held in generic 3/8 amazon lathe holders. Not ideal by any measure but its what I have on hand.
The other issue is that on the one i was able to get a good finish curled like a potato chip when removed from the vise. So any suggestions to deal with that would be helpful as well. I saw something about normalizing the material before working it but didnt read into the process all that much. The other trick seems to be taking small cuts from each side trying to balance the twist out as you go. That seems tricky considering the work hardening and lack of material to be removed. If thats my only option it is what it is but if normalizing or another process would work as well or better that would be preffered.
I do have a 45 degree face mill large enough to make a single pass with stainless specific inserts on order based on suggestions from other posts regarding cutting 304. Im really hoping the new cutter solves most of the issues but with the pessimistic assumption it wont is there anything you guys can suggest that might improve my results with the fly cutter at hand. Perhaps a different holder and insert combo, a better depth of cut and feed/speed combo to avoid work hardening.
I'm open to other processes or material suggestions as well. I had considered either 303 or 430 and my client is open to that idea but im wondering if id still have the same parts curling up issues with those that im having with the 304. I also suggested having the handle shapes cut over sized on a waterjet or laser and then do the 3d profiling in the mill, the client wasnt so keen on that and admittedly i dont have enough experience with stainless much less small stainless parts to argue. But if someone with more experience says hey thats actually a better way to do things that would help me change his mind.
The finished parts measure about 2.375 long by .375 wide and .135 thick. They will be the handles for minature knives.
The original plan was to get a 2.5"x6'x.1875 piece of 304 stainless, cut it into 6.5" strips then deck them to thickness, drill and countersink some holes and then place them on a fixture to cut out the individual handles.
Well I was able to make my fixture plate and all was good until I started trying to deck the 304. I think part of my problem might be related to the tooling i have at hand. I planned to use a 2" shell mill with apkt inserts to remove about .02 and then come in with a flycutter and make a single .005 finish pass. Flip and repeat until they were at final thickness.
I ordered some inserts that would work better in stainless than what i had on hand and Im happy to say I was able to get an acceptable surface finish and good sounding cut out of the shell mill. The fly cutter hasnt worked quite so well though. I havent been able to get anything close to the results im looking for. Either the finish isnt good enough or it starts out great then goes to hell cause the insert chipped midway through. I have tried a range of feeds and speeds, cut with and without coolant and, tried a few different depths of cut Inserts might be the issue as they are tpg inserts held in generic 3/8 amazon lathe holders. Not ideal by any measure but its what I have on hand.
The other issue is that on the one i was able to get a good finish curled like a potato chip when removed from the vise. So any suggestions to deal with that would be helpful as well. I saw something about normalizing the material before working it but didnt read into the process all that much. The other trick seems to be taking small cuts from each side trying to balance the twist out as you go. That seems tricky considering the work hardening and lack of material to be removed. If thats my only option it is what it is but if normalizing or another process would work as well or better that would be preffered.
I do have a 45 degree face mill large enough to make a single pass with stainless specific inserts on order based on suggestions from other posts regarding cutting 304. Im really hoping the new cutter solves most of the issues but with the pessimistic assumption it wont is there anything you guys can suggest that might improve my results with the fly cutter at hand. Perhaps a different holder and insert combo, a better depth of cut and feed/speed combo to avoid work hardening.
I'm open to other processes or material suggestions as well. I had considered either 303 or 430 and my client is open to that idea but im wondering if id still have the same parts curling up issues with those that im having with the 304. I also suggested having the handle shapes cut over sized on a waterjet or laser and then do the 3d profiling in the mill, the client wasnt so keen on that and admittedly i dont have enough experience with stainless much less small stainless parts to argue. But if someone with more experience says hey thats actually a better way to do things that would help me change his mind.
