Cut to Length machine recommendation

C

CutEdge

Aluminum

Joined

May 22, 2015

• Oct 20, 2021

• #1

I need a recommendation for a machine to cut High-Carbon Steel to length. The profiles are rectangular (.125" x 1" or smaller). Hardness is in the 40's, Rockwell C. Precision must be +/-.001". Ballpark estimate for cut time is 20 seconds.

I can use search engines just fine, but I was wondering if anyone had any actual experience with various machines that might help us make a decision. I'm not limiting this to a particular type or brand - it could be a traditional cutoff grinding wheel, a circular saw, a CNC grinder, a Wire EDM, you name it. We need something that can run day and night for years and still work in the long run.

Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

 

crossthread

Titanium

Joined

Aug 5, 2004

Location

Richmond,VA,USA

• Oct 20, 2021

• #2

Cold saw in my opinion.

 

jscpm

Titanium

Joined

May 4, 2010

Location

Cambridge, MA

• Oct 20, 2021

• #3

For small cross section area like that, use a shear. It will make an instantaneous clean cut with no scorching of the material.

For round rod, you can just buy a Diacro. For rectangular bar maybe use something like the Edwards Multishear. This thing is awesome, for only $1600 you can shear up to 1/4" x 6" bar stock and it has dies to do angles too.

Multi Shear | Edwards Manufacturing

 

C

CutEdge

Aluminum

Joined

May 22, 2015

• Oct 20, 2021

• #4

We do use a shear. But then we have to precision grind the ends. If this is the only option I'm all for it, but if there's a way to get the cut precise within tolerance the first time, I'd prefer that.

 

TKassoc

Hot Rolled

Joined

Aug 19, 2009

Location

Oakland, CA

• Oct 20, 2021

• #5

If you need clean burr free ends you will be best served by an ECM (electrochemical cutoff machine). They're sort of half way between EDM and a saw. Electrochemical Grinding (ECG)

 

I

Ishira

Plastic

Joined

Oct 6, 2021

• Oct 20, 2021

• #6

I don't know much about different types of machines, but I'm an EDM operator, and EDM is so convenient. With one macro program you could cut an entire bar of steel, just set and forget for a couple minutes. Only thing is it leaves a slightly burned finish, unsure how much the aesthetic matters for what you do with the steel. The finish is easily polished with a hone stone, but then there's that added time factor.

 

C

CutEdge

Aluminum

Joined

May 22, 2015

• Oct 20, 2021

• #7

TKassoc, ECM looks very interesting. I haven't heard of that before. Thanks for the tip.

Ishira, the burned finish does matter. I think that would be a deal breaker. Do all EDM's leave this burn, or could we avoid it by getting a more expensive machine?

 

I

Ishira

Plastic

Joined

Oct 6, 2021

• Oct 20, 2021

• #8

All EDMs.. should..(?) leave the burn finish, due to the nature of the cut, however a second pass over the material has cleaned it up in my own experience, and just takes a couple extra seconds to do. I can figure out how to post images on here a bit later today, and send you what steel looks like EDM'd with a second cleanup pass. I have a piece on hand I just did the other day. Looks pretty nice, I think.

 

C

CutEdge

Aluminum

Joined

May 22, 2015

• Oct 20, 2021

• #9

That would be helpful, thank you.

 

Mike1974

Diamond

Joined

Nov 5, 2014

Location

Tampa area

• Oct 20, 2021

• #10

Ishira said:

All EDMs.. should..(?) leave the burn finish, due to the nature of the cut, however a second pass over the material has cleaned it up in my own experience, and just takes a couple extra seconds to do. I can figure out how to post images on here a bit later today, and send you what steel looks like EDM'd with a second cleanup pass. I have a piece on hand I just did the other day. Looks pretty nice, I think.

Click to expand...

Should be important to note... Depending on machine, the Charmilles had special finishing passes for a *polished* finish.

* entirely dependent on what you are looking for, but as Ishira noted, a finish pass will leave a pretty nice finish regardless, just a light touch with a fine stone will take that even further.

 

I

Ishira

Plastic

Joined

Oct 6, 2021

• Oct 20, 2021

• #11

Mike1974 said:

Should be important to note... Depending on machine, the Charmilles had special finishing passes for a *polished* finish.

* entirely dependent on what you are looking for, but as Ishira noted, a finish pass will leave a pretty nice finish regardless, just a light touch with a fine stone will take that even further.

Click to expand...

^
Definitely look into the different brands and speak with some applications engineers if EDM is the route you choose. There's a couple major manufacturers and each one is competitively different! We use Fanuc in our shop, so that is the machine type I know best, and I could tell you nothing about the others and their nuances, haha.

 

michiganbuck

Diamond

Joined

Jun 28, 2012

Location

Mt Clemens, Michigan 48035

• Oct 20, 2021

• #12

traditional cutoff grinding wheel would likely leave a bug at the exit..and the wheel is likely to lose width, to grow the part length.