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ps.com...
JWho wrote:

Hi. I am thinking about buying a 1" solid, round bar of what is
labelled as
CDA 360 brass. How hard/tough is this material to cut, sand or drill?

You probably don't want to know about the actual hardness of bar stock,
which can very depending on when it was last heat treated in the
manufacturing process.

What is worthwhile to note is that this is a leaded alloy, meaning a
small amount of lead has been added to make chips break off clearnly
and easily when cut, instead of in long strings that would wind around
tools.

As a result it machines (drills, turns, etc) fairly easily, except for
one thing:

Drills with the angle of their cutting edges ground appropriate for
steel or wood (ie, most you can buy) will tend to "grab" in brass,
often pulling right out of the chuck (or pulling the chuck of it's
mount), stalling, ruining the hole, and perhaps even breaking.

I need it to be about 0.988" outer diameter, so I am wondering if I can
just
use sandpaper to take some of the material off. Whatever the proper
tool is
to do that, I don't have it, and I want to be able to do all this by
myself.

Yes, though a file might be a better option. Really, you need a
lathe... see below

I am also wanting to cut it into smaller cylinders. Can it be cut into
smaller pieces with a hacksaw? See above on tooling.

Yes, though for 1" stock you'll want the coursest tooth blade you can
find (something like 6-10 teeth per inch, not the usually 20-30), and
expect to have a fairly tired arm by the time you are done. Again, a
lathe will do a much cleaner and easier job.

I am also wanting to drill a hole in the small cylinders, after I press
them
into an aluminum piece with a hole. I am trying to make a
sleeve/bushing
about .063" wall thickness. Will this drill bit drill through it (about
3/4
inches deep)?

This is where it is almost mandatory to use a lathe. You don't want to
use a drill bit that big, the best thing you would do is to drill a
hole using several drill sizes working up to maybe 1/2" and then use an
inside lathe tool bit to open up the diamter, concentric to the
outside. Then install the finished part.


http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...&bidsite=CRAFT

Does anyone know where to buy a decent priced 59/64" drill bit that will
drill through it? The final internal diameter needs to be 0.923", and
that
is the closest drill bit size I think there is. I was just going to use
sandpaper to enlarge the hole a little bit from the 7/8" or 59/64" drill
bit
hole.

Ugh, you are not going to enjoy that.

I am assuming I need a drill press to do this properly, correct? How
many
HP of a drill press will I need to buy? Here are two I am looking at:

It's not so much horsepower and needed extremely slow speed, ideally
less than 200 rpm. A drill press is completely the wrong tool. A
milling machine could do a bad job of it, but to do it right you need a
lathe.

Some alternatives:

- have a machine shop do it for you:

- investigate existing bushings - consider metric sizes! (25 mm is much
closer to your designed OD than 1" is)

- consider other materials: aluminum is easier to drill. bushing
bronze is better for moving applictions. metal filled epoxy might let
you mold the part in place to size.... what exactly do you need this
for?


Thanks for the information and suggestions. I can't afford a lathe, and it
would drive up the cost quite a bit to make a few of these, as would paying
a machine shop, buying a mill, etc. That is why I was asking about doing it
by hand. I'll post a link to a picture to hopefully better explain it.

Thanks.