First of all, these work-holding parts are meant for non-production use on hobby-sized machines so the performance does not need to be on par with commercial parts.
I have a Taig so my resources are small. Toe-clamps seem to be in the $40+ range, too much for me and most of them are made to use on larger machines. But double-sticky tape is not stiff enough to machine some palm-sized custom parts for my 3D printer. I can hold to a mill or so across a flat slab but keeping it hard flush with the stage has been difficult.
So I decided to design my own. Started wondering if there might a small market for hobbyists, selling these at a lower cost.
Got the slanted toe and mating base done, and the machining operations worked out.
Now looking at materials.
I don't have the resources to do any hardening but I want to be able to clamp steel. I've been looking at bronze and mild steel (like annealed tool steels) but worried the ridges in my clamp surfaces will wear down too easily and trying to get the hardest material I can reasonable machine on my machine. A few pieces I might try for stainless, but if I try to make, say, 100, then SS probably wont' be practical.
The toe certainly needs to be hard (ie not aluminum!) but I see no reason why a low-load use, like hobby machines, can't use a high-strength aluminum base. Polish the interface some, a bit of oil, seems like it would be fine.
Bronze is turning out to be more expensive and fewer stock sizes are available so for now I'm sticking with the steel.
Bottom line: what is the hardest steel I could use for this that I won't need to harden, that I can machine myself in some quantity in the many dozens.
Does using aluminum for the base also raise issues I'm not aware of?
thanks
I have a Taig so my resources are small. Toe-clamps seem to be in the $40+ range, too much for me and most of them are made to use on larger machines. But double-sticky tape is not stiff enough to machine some palm-sized custom parts for my 3D printer. I can hold to a mill or so across a flat slab but keeping it hard flush with the stage has been difficult.
So I decided to design my own. Started wondering if there might a small market for hobbyists, selling these at a lower cost.
Got the slanted toe and mating base done, and the machining operations worked out.
Now looking at materials.
I don't have the resources to do any hardening but I want to be able to clamp steel. I've been looking at bronze and mild steel (like annealed tool steels) but worried the ridges in my clamp surfaces will wear down too easily and trying to get the hardest material I can reasonable machine on my machine. A few pieces I might try for stainless, but if I try to make, say, 100, then SS probably wont' be practical.
The toe certainly needs to be hard (ie not aluminum!) but I see no reason why a low-load use, like hobby machines, can't use a high-strength aluminum base. Polish the interface some, a bit of oil, seems like it would be fine.
Bronze is turning out to be more expensive and fewer stock sizes are available so for now I'm sticking with the steel.
Bottom line: what is the hardest steel I could use for this that I won't need to harden, that I can machine myself in some quantity in the many dozens.
Does using aluminum for the base also raise issues I'm not aware of?
thanks