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

wrote:
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.

100um = 0.1mm, right? That's a really short piece of 38 gauge copper
wire, or of 6/0 music wire. I'm guessing it might be available in
aluminum and brass too (but don't see it in any of my catalogs.)

Tim.

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


Presuming you want this 'feature' standing up from a surface of the same
part, I would make a rod the right diameter (probably from wire as has
already been suggested) and a hole in the surface. In other words a
two-piece solution. Trying to chew away everything that isn't the little
cylinder would be a job for grinding, I think. Harold or another
guru-level person would know better.

I'm doing some work on this scale right now and it is ... interesting.

--
Fred R
"It doesn't really take all kinds; there just *are* all kinds".
Drop TROU to email.

Tim Shoppa wrote:

I need to to get a positive feature which is 100um diameter and
500um long

That's a really short piece of 38 gauge copper
wire, or of 6/0 music wire.

.... or a piece of spring steel or drill rod. Metric! ;-)


Nick
--
Motor Modelle // Engine Models
http://www.motor-manufaktur.de
DIY-DRO // Eigenbau-Digitalanzeige
http://www.yadro.de

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.

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



This month's issue (March 2006) of "Today's Medical Developments" on page 65
advertises a machining center. The object machined is a 5 by 5 grid of
vertical pins machined from NAK80 (mold steel). The pins range from .02mm
diameter x 2mm tall (.00078" x .078") to .10mm diameter x 10mm tall (.0039"
x .390").

The ad can be found at www.onlinetmd.com/printAds.cfm Unfortunately, the
link seems to down. Check back later.

The machine is the new NTC Zu3500. www.ntcmc.com It's not on their web site
yet. The "u" after the letter "Z" is actually the symbol for micro and not
a 'u'. ...I just didn't want to dig out an ascii reference to figure out
how to type it :-)

So, the part you want is machinable. You just may lack the proper equipment
to do it efficiently. Good luck.
--
Skuke
Reverse the domain name to send email

"Tim Shoppa" wrote in message
oups.com...
wrote:
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.

100um = 0.1mm, right? That's a really short piece of 38 gauge copper
wire, or of 6/0 music wire. I'm guessing it might be available in
aluminum and brass too (but don't see it in any of my catalogs.)

Tim.


Possible? Yes, but it requires one hell of a lot of patience. You made
no mention of the tolerance required, however, so that could be the limiting
factor. A boring head with the properly configured tool will easily make
the cut. I'm assuming the "post" will be at a right angle to the surface.
If material isn't a serious concern, you may enjoy making it from 12L14,
which will machine without tearing and leave a decent finish. 7075-T6
aluminum might also be a good choice, as well as 2024-T351. It likely
goes without saying that light cuts are in order, and a fine feel.

A permanent stop should be set, along with an indicator so you have an idea
where the tool is relative to the part in question. I'd suggest a finely
honed HSS toolbit for such a challenge, not carbide. You'll need
reasonable positive rake and virtually no radius on the tool. Measuring
the diameter will be challenging, but it's possible a comparator could be
used.

How are your eyes? Seeing the part and the cut will be a big part of the
challenge.

Harold

a couple of summers ago my daughter was working on a device that had
an array of pins that I believe were on 1 um spacing and about .01 um
in diameter (if I remember the dimensions) - created by etching
techniques - one big problem was making electrical connections to the
carrier - these pins were pretty fragile - so moral here is that you
can get pretty small, but at some point you stop using conventional
cutting tools.




On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 04:27:47 GMT, skuke wrote:

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



So, the part you want is machinable. You just may lack the proper equipment
to do it efficiently. Good luck.
Bill

www.wbnoble.com

to contact me, do not reply to this message,
instead correct this address and use it

will iam_ b_ No ble at msn daught com
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wrote in message
oups.com...
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


What about chemical milling?
I don't know much about it at all other than knowing it may be worth looking
into.

Rob wrote:

wrote in message
roups.com...


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




What about chemical milling?
I don't know much about it at all other than knowing it may be worth looking
into.



Chemical milling suffers from undercutting, so making something
deeper than the feature size becomes very hard. The pin would end
up tapered with almost any liquid etching technique. Ion etching
can do stuff like this in Silicon materials. But, these techniques may
be way too slow for such a large part. Those systems are used for making
parts with dimensions in the nanometer range.

Jon

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 awfully like a facing cut on the lathe with the tool just below
centre. ...the pip left in the centre.

btw you want a small rod feature above the surface.
you only think you need a mill to do it :-)

Stealth Pilot