help machining a beveled edge on alum flats

[posplayr]

I don't know why I didn't think of this before but to eliminate the danger of the 22,000 rpm a router spins, you could chuck the router bit in a drill press, set the speed to where you can deal with it, raise the table up to the bit & then feed the parts into the bit on the table. Just go easy on the pressure & get a feel for it. I'll bet I could do it easily & safely this way! Ray.

Hell Ray; i do dat all da time

and you will be in business.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=94276

Alum is soft, but unless the material is held firmly the bits will grab and fling the part. I have a large table top drill press and use a vice like the above.

 

[trippivot]

I have a belt sander I put in the vise. 60 or 80 grit makes quick work for aluminum.

Any ideas on how to bevel the edge of these curvey flat alum motor mounts I hacked out for my GS1000/GS750 project? Just an easy 45 degree on the edge is all I'm after.

All I currently have at my disposal is a drill press with a machinists vise and some assorted mills - or hand files of course. I tried to do some of it by hand but it got a little shoddy in the corners and curves. (Like the GS1000 used to do!)

Any advice is good advice. I'm drawing a blank.

thanks, JC

 

[DMorris]

I know this thread has been idle for a bit but I thought I would add that Dremel makes a router attachment for their high speed motors and lots of bits with all kinds of angles and curves to go with them.

If what is wanted is a small ( 1/16 to 3/16 ) bevel or round over, this might be the way to go for smaller parts that would be tough to work with bigger cutters and motors.

I would stick the part to a board with doubleback tape. That would free up both hands to guide the dremel router. The trick is to go easy on how much material is removed per pass.

Don

Thought I would also mention that beeswax will help keep your burr or rotary file from loading up

 

[Guest]

I'd second Commodus. File em. By the time you're finished, you'll be good with a file, and will be able to do lots of precision shaping in the future.

 

[argonsagas]

This is still work to be done, instead of riding.....

How about a simple tool choice, guaranteed to do the work well, and all it will take is a few minutes and a bit of patience.

Stay away from coarse grits when doing aluminum.

Use a small grit -high number belt to get the best results.

You can set the angle by adjusting the table when hard grinding, and then get a very clean surface by using the higher, unsupported part of the belt. .

 

[Roger P.]

You need a silicon carbide wheel to grind aluminum, non-ferrous metals and carbides. The wheel breaks down quickly, keeping a sharp face on the grinding wheel. They powder away quickly, but do the job wonderfully. I have ground copper with these wheels quite successfully. There are die grinder burrs especially made for aluminum which have a coarse tooth pitch which don't load up and work very quickly, sometimes too quickly. If you use a drill and router bit, remember to feed the piece against the travel of the bit, not with it, otherwise the bit will grab it and try to throw it violently. It's called climb milling, and is very destructive if not carried out on a machine specifically designed to do this, in which case it is a very efficient milling technique.

I fit was me, I'd draw file it. As much as I hated that first few weeks of machine shop, I did learn to properly use a file, and can now do some fairly intricate work with one. Draw filing is a method where the file is held perpendicularly to the work piece and is drawn back and forth across the piece side to side. You can get some very smooth surfaces with this method, and some very accurate ones as well.