DIYbanter - View Single Post

On 23 Mar 2006 14:26:06 -0800, wrote:
Hi,

I need to to get a positive feature which is 100um diameter and
500um
long (a very small rod) with milling machine. I can use aluminum or
steel.
I wonder if it is possible? If so which material is better? I think
aluminum
is easy to cut but may be too flexible for a feature like this. Any
suggestions
on the cutting parameters are highly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Regards,

Tao
===============================
Sounds like this is on the borderline of what is possible with
mechanical machining. If you are a wizard and have unlimited
time/funds it *MAY* be possible.

(1) How are you going to measure the diameter, length,
cylindricality?

(2) Is your milling machine capable of making these kinds of
moves? Depending on the resolution [granularity] the best you
may be able to do is some sort of square or hexagon approximation
to a cylinder.

My first thoughts would be some kind of chemical [etching] or
electro-chemical [reverse plating] process. Another thought
would be some kind of miniature EDM process. If your milling
machine has the required accuracy/resolution you may be able to
adapt these processes to it.

Sounds like a fascinating project. What's it going into? I know
cell phones are getting smaller every day, but this seems a
little extreme.