On Feb 7, 7:19*am, Phil Again wrote:
On Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:34:47 -0800, Searcher7 wrote:
I need to cut soft metals into strips and also groove wood and plastics
for several projects, and it seems that the only plausible way to make
these cuts consistent and accurate is to use a gang saw.

Unless there are readily available "kits" for something like this, can
anyone direct me to a "how to" on making these?(I'll need to make 30
cuts/grooves at a time).

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Darren:

This sounds like a manufacturing setup. *Production setup. There will be
lots and lots of things that this text-only newsgroup will be unable to *
communicate. *Your cuts / grooves are going to be too close together and
you might introduce minor flex on the gang saw shaft due to cutting
resistance of 30 cutters on a single shaft, IMHO. *What level of
tolerances must your setup hold to?

Plus you are going to have to insure the stock material does not shift
while cutting; either lock the material down and move the cutters and
shaft, or setup some sort movable bed that holds the stock. *Either way
it could get expensive. Really expensive. *(Unless you have your own
machine shop of course.)

Have you considered a laser cutting/engraving ? *

sawmillcreek.org (note the dot org) is a forum that has a sub-section on
laser engravers and CNC cutting. *For about $20,000 you can get a good
wood / plastics laser cutting / engraving CNC rig. *(Please, let that
forum suggest you what rigs, add-ons, makers, and costs.) *You can have a
setup that will be *A LOT SLOWER* than a dedicated gang saw workstation,
but you will end up with the accuracy, repeatability, and consistency you
seem to be looking for. *Maybe not ISO 9000 quality control consistency
at the $20,000 investment level, but close enough. *

All said and done, maybe even a cheaper overall investment for your
enterprise.

Best of luck, and I hope others have other advise.

Phil

I don't know the specifics of the set up you are talking about, but
$20,000 is way out of the question!

For the cutting gang saw I figured I'd have to build a jig of some
sort. The metal("Beryllium Copper" or Phosphor
Bronze) to be cut into these strips will be anywhere between .005"
and .015" thick.(Whatever I can find cheaply).

I thought I'd make a channel that would be the same width as whatever
the standard width metal coil I'd slide under the gang saw. The idea
would be to score the metal enough so that I can easily break off the
strips. I'm assuming the saw would rotate against the direction of the
work, and that multiple passes may be necessary.

As long as the grooving saw can make grooves in the material(wood or
plastic) those strips would fit in, visual accuracy is really what
this comes down to.

It'll be tedious work, but I guess I'd have to progressively grind
down the thickness of the metal bushings between each saw until I get
to the proper spacing needed.

If I can buy enough of these saws and find a way to fit them together
in a group as large as 30, I guess the biggest issue would then be
sharpening them when needed. I have a mini lathe. (And a mini mill
that needs to be fixed).

I figure a gang saw like this would be an easier option than some sort
of indexing jig with stops where I'd have to make passes for every
parallel cut. But correct me if I'm wrong. (I doubt that would be as
accurate).

Anyway, I was hoping to get a handle on the materials I'd need to
build something like this. And I'm still open to ideas

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.