rangerssuck wrote:

Michael Terrell wrote:
John Doe wrote:

I tried a hole saw in my cheap drill press. Works perfectly for
hardwood, but doesn't work for 6061 aluminum. I might try
removing some teeth from a hole saw, see if it cuts a little
better without the chatter. I am familiar with inwards and
outwards leaning teeth.

Will I have better luck with a 40mm carbide cutter that has
fewer teeth and maybe better chip removal? The hole diameter
must be near perfect, so I might end up buying more than one
(different versions) of those if it cuts through the material.

Is there a small machine made for cutting shallow holes in
metal? I suppose a good drill press would work, but only if
necessary.

I recently purchased DeWalt's small cordless metal cutting
bandsaw and think it's great for cutting most small/narrow
aluminum.

I really want to cut that hole.

I've cut them with a fly cutter.

That was my first thought.

Any cheap CNC machines that will cut through 1/4" 6061 aluminum?

Was looking at "generic" (a.k.a. the Chinese "brand")
CNC machines recently. Says they will cut PVC. That is potentially
useful.





--

After looking closely and ordering some flange bearings, that is a
solution to my problem. Using the 17mm inner diameter, the rod/shaft
diameter, instead of the 40mm outer diameter of the bearing that was
attached to the shaft. Apparently 17mm ID is common for flange
bearings. Got some nice ones ($10 each) that also include an Allen key
(x2) to grip the shaft.