On 1 Apr 2006 17:26:51 -0800, "Polymer Man"
wrote:


Gunner wrote:

Im doing it now...on a shaper..simply because it was killing my
endmills




Shaper? What the hell is a shaper? Kidding. Sort of.

Actually..for the home guy not in a hurry..there is nothing you cant
do on a shaper that you cant do on a horizontal miller, except drill
holes and pocket.
I use mine mostly for cutting dovetails and the like. But..its slower
than a mill of course. But it doesnt leave any machining marks
either..nearly glass smooth.

I put a 36" Smith-Hall into a aerospace shop a couple years ago. He
fixtures up a ****load of small parts, places the fixture in the
shaper, and lets it run. In 30 minutes..he has all 300 parts faced,
cut to length and glass smooth, without needing an operator. Just
someone to load the fixture.
Plus a shaper makes inside square holes and such with true square
corners, keyways and such really nice without needing any broaches.
They have a place in some shops.
Id like to have a bigger one. Mine is a Logan 8"...but with a
vise..its about 5.75 max height

"How do you guys handle working with a HAZ on plate?"

I have some old end mills that are "used up" on the first .100" but are
sharp above that. I save these for this kind of thing. I'd cut it with
the side, not the end.

Conventional type milling deeper than the worst of the HAZ. I might use
an old junk 1/2" carbide at 500 RPM at 5 IPM with flood coolant. I
know, that's moving really slow, but that's how I do it.

The worst HAZ I've ever seen was some very thick plate that was cut
with a carbon arc. I took a grinder to the bad areas first.

The HAZ is about .09 thick..which is pretty small..but not small
enough. I may have to trepan down into the material with a trepanning
tool in the shaper, and try to peel it away as Randy said. I roughed
em out .375 bigger in all dimensions just in case..but this has been
kicking my ass. I need either a bigger shaper..or a K&T #2 for
this..my little Clausing horizontal isnt beefy enough to run a slab
mill on this stuff..and I dont have a power feed on the Gorton
MasterMill....

Thanks for the suggestions. No matter what I do..this is gonna be a
bitch on anything smaller than a Viper..sigh

I might try recutting them with the bandsaw..which really isnt a bad
idea at all. I might be able to slide down just inside the HAZ. My
7x12 Emerson bandsaw cuts pretty straight. I think Ill try that first.

Thanks guys.


Gunner



"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them;
the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."
- Proverbs 22:3