Source for blanchard ground blanks?

[Liberty_Machine]

I need to make a fixture for my 4th axis so I need a piece of flat ground steel (any grade, really) roughly 1.2" x 6" x 18". I would prefer to just buy something close to thickness and size and finish as needed. Anyone know a good source for this?

 

[hvnlymachining]

McMaster Carr has " tight tolerance" ground steel plate 1-1/4" thick in a variety of grades. There may be cheaper suppliers, but probably not faster if you want it in a hurry.

 

[Liberty_Machine]

McMaster Carr has " tight tolerance" ground steel plate 1-1/4" thick in a variety of grades. There may be cheaper suppliers, but probably not faster if you want it in a hurry.

Not in a hurry for this, so curious what other sources are out there

 

[Joe Henderson]

Commerce Grinding, Dallas Texas. It's probably the largest grinding shop in anywhere. They have some monster grinding machines.

 

[michiganbuck]

That is not a tough part for a decent surface grinder.
How close is the tolerance? I could run that to a couple of tenths on my SG, but I don't want the job.
Plus: just the flat fussy? or do the sides need size and square also need fussy?

Not a bad idea to gun blue such a part, then you can see the wear as it happens in use.

 

[Liberty_Machine]

Size; +/-.015 all over, flatness/parallelism of the 1.2" would be under .001", squareness of sides would be .001/.002". Not all that critical outside of flat/parallel
Smaller version of this plate:

 

[richard newman]

Nifty Bar - Grinding & Cutting Solutions

 

[fciron]

McMaster Carr shows “Item Unavailable”. Even they are getting affected by supply chain weirdness.

 

[michiganbuck]

Nice fixture, perhaps you should add that to your product line.

 

[Thunderjet]

We just started using these guys for a tool steel source and they did a great job.

Tool Steel - Superior Die Set

The alloy and tracking info is etched right in the plate when you receive it.

Not trying to bag on Mcmaster-Carr, but just another source for good matl.

 

[Comatose]

Superior Die are great! Quick, good stuff, easy to work with, not too expensive.

All that said, I much prefer to machine that sort of fixture in-place if I can. A flycutter would make quick work of it, and you'd be certain it was flat and parallel to your machine that way. Otherwise you have to worry about your assembly tolerance stackups.

 

[michiganbuck]

Looks like that fixture would be even better if it could be installed near the center of head and tail..and also below the head and tail center so as to just miss the table enough for running a bigger part.