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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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#1
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Milling polycarbonate
I have a little project where I want to mill some holes and slots in
1/8" Lexan (polycarbonate). What is the best way to do it. Really fast feeds, medium speeds, and lots of coolant? i |
#2
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Milling polycarbonate
On Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:20:18 -0500, Ignoramus24760
wrote: I have a little project where I want to mill some holes and slots in 1/8" Lexan (polycarbonate). What is the best way to do it. Really fast feeds, medium speeds, and lots of coolant? i Make a sandwich is the key, AL on top and below. Then speeds and feeds for AL. HSS works better here. Karl |
#3
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Milling polycarbonate
In article ,
Ignoramus24760 wrote: I have a little project where I want to mill some holes and slots in 1/8" Lexan (polycarbonate). What is the best way to do it. Really fast feeds, medium speeds, and lots of coolant? Clean all the oil from the tools and fixtures, as polycarb will craze form oil. (Do not use emulsion coolant either.) Use lots straight tap water as a coolant. Go as fast as you can without the polycarb softening from the heat. Polycarb can be a bit grabby. Joe Gwinn |
#4
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Milling polycarbonate
On 2010-09-03, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article , Ignoramus24760 wrote: I have a little project where I want to mill some holes and slots in 1/8" Lexan (polycarbonate). What is the best way to do it. Really fast feeds, medium speeds, and lots of coolant? Clean all the oil from the tools and fixtures, as polycarb will craze form oil. (Do not use emulsion coolant either.) Use lots straight tap water as a coolant. Go as fast as you can without the polycarb softening from the heat. Polycarb can be a bit grabby. Joe, I have my chip shield made from polycarbonate. It sees plenty of oil, but does not seem to craze? i |
#5
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Milling polycarbonate
On Sep 3, 1:50*pm, Ignoramus24760 ignoramus24...@NOSPAM.
24760.invalid wrote: On 2010-09-03, Joseph Gwinn wrote: In article , *Ignoramus24760 wrote: I have a little project where I want to mill some holes and slots in 1/8" Lexan (polycarbonate). What is the best way to do it. Really fast feeds, medium speeds, and lots of coolant? Clean all the oil from the tools and fixtures, as polycarb will craze form oil. * (Do not use emulsion coolant either.) Use lots straight tap water as a coolant. * Go as fast as you can without the polycarb softening from the heat. Polycarb can be a bit grabby. Joe, I have my chip shield made from polycarbonate. It sees plenty of oil, but does not seem to craze? i- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Window-grade stuff has an anti-scratch coating on it, which may slow things down. Anywhere you've got a hole that's exposed to oil, though, it'll start cracking eventually. Won't be instantaneous. Doesn't necessarily have to be mineral-based oil, either, have a look at how many Stir-Crazies are in the thrift shops without tops, vegetable oil did them in. Stan |
#6
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Milling polycarbonate
In article ,
Ignoramus24760 wrote: On 2010-09-03, Joseph Gwinn wrote: In article , Ignoramus24760 wrote: I have a little project where I want to mill some holes and slots in 1/8" Lexan (polycarbonate). What is the best way to do it. Really fast feeds, medium speeds, and lots of coolant? Clean all the oil from the tools and fixtures, as polycarb will craze form oil. (Do not use emulsion coolant either.) Use lots straight tap water as a coolant. Go as fast as you can without the polycarb softening from the heat. Polycarb can be a bit grabby. Joe, I have my chip shield made from polycarbonate. It sees plenty of oil, but does not seem to craze? Hmm. Good point. The chip shield on my lathe is none the worse for wear either. I may be mixing polycarb up with acrylic. Unless the heat of machining allows the oil to get deeper into the material. I did a little looking: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...arbonate-19645 9/. It is the acrylic that is so oil sensitive. But still, water is the best coolant. Joe Gwinn |
#7
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Milling polycarbonate
Joseph Gwinn wrote:
Joe, I have my chip shield made from polycarbonate. It sees plenty of oil, but does not seem to craze? Hmm. Good point. The chip shield on my lathe is none the worse for wear either. I may be mixing polycarb up with acrylic. Unless the heat of machining allows the oil to get deeper into the material. I did a little looking: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...arbonate-19645 9/. It is the acrylic that is so oil sensitive. But still, water is the best coolant. Joe Gwinn Lexan is the one that will craze like crazy. -- Richard Lamb |
#8
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Milling polycarbonate
Bob Engelhardt wrote:
CaveLamb wrote: Lexan is the one that will craze like crazy. Lexan is a brand name (GE's ?) of polycarbonate. Bob It's the only one I have any direct experience with. One windshield crazed (almost to dust) the first time it got a little gas on it. The replacement didn't and still flies. Both surfaces are not always treated. And it seems to matter which way the sheet is bent. Bending the surface away from the solvent (ok, solvent contacting a convex (treated!) surface?) will react badly and quickly. Solvent contact on the concave side, not so reactive. -- Richard Lamb |
#9
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Milling polycarbonate
On Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:58:33 -0500, Karl Townsend
wrote: On Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:20:18 -0500, Ignoramus24760 wrote: I have a little project where I want to mill some holes and slots in 1/8" Lexan (polycarbonate). What is the best way to do it. Really fast feeds, medium speeds, and lots of coolant? i Make a sandwich is the key, AL on top and below. Then speeds and feeds for AL. HSS works better here. Karl i just read the rest of your thread... I didn't mention I run this dry. The AL does two things - holds the Lexan firm for no chipping top and bottom, and its a great heat sink so you don't get any melting. karl |
#10
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Milling polycarbonate
On 2010-09-03, CaveLamb wrote:
Joseph Gwinn wrote: Joe, I have my chip shield made from polycarbonate. It sees plenty of oil, but does not seem to craze? Hmm. Good point. The chip shield on my lathe is none the worse for wear either. I may be mixing polycarb up with acrylic. Unless the heat of machining allows the oil to get deeper into the material. I did a little looking: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...arbonate-19645 9/. It is the acrylic that is so oil sensitive. But still, water is the best coolant. Joe Gwinn Lexan is the one that will craze like crazy. I have come polycarbonate junk, I will try to machine it today. |
#11
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Milling polycarbonate
"Joseph Gwinn" wrote in message ... In article , Ignoramus24760 wrote: On 2010-09-03, Joseph Gwinn wrote: In article , Ignoramus24760 wrote: I have a little project where I want to mill some holes and slots in 1/8" Lexan (polycarbonate). What is the best way to do it. Really fast feeds, medium speeds, and lots of coolant? Clean all the oil from the tools and fixtures, as polycarb will craze form oil. (Do not use emulsion coolant either.) Use lots straight tap water as a coolant. Go as fast as you can without the polycarb softening from the heat. Polycarb can be a bit grabby. Joe, I have my chip shield made from polycarbonate. It sees plenty of oil, but does not seem to craze? Hmm. Good point. The chip shield on my lathe is none the worse for wear either. I may be mixing polycarb up with acrylic. Unless the heat of machining allows the oil to get deeper into the material. I did a little looking: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...arbonate-19645 9/. It is the acrylic that is so oil sensitive. But still, water is the best coolant. Joe Gwinn Igor, I've milled plenty of acrylic using the Hansterfer S500 coolant that you have and there has been no crazing in any of it. Some of the parts date back nearly 3 years and I'd guess that would be enough time for crazing to become visible.. |
#12
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Milling polycarbonate
On 2010-09-04, Mike Henry wrote:
"Joseph Gwinn" wrote in message ... In article , Ignoramus24760 wrote: On 2010-09-03, Joseph Gwinn wrote: In article , Ignoramus24760 wrote: I have a little project where I want to mill some holes and slots in 1/8" Lexan (polycarbonate). What is the best way to do it. Really fast feeds, medium speeds, and lots of coolant? Clean all the oil from the tools and fixtures, as polycarb will craze form oil. (Do not use emulsion coolant either.) Use lots straight tap water as a coolant. Go as fast as you can without the polycarb softening from the heat. Polycarb can be a bit grabby. Joe, I have my chip shield made from polycarbonate. It sees plenty of oil, but does not seem to craze? Hmm. Good point. The chip shield on my lathe is none the worse for wear either. I may be mixing polycarb up with acrylic. Unless the heat of machining allows the oil to get deeper into the material. I did a little looking: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...arbonate-19645 9/. It is the acrylic that is so oil sensitive. But still, water is the best coolant. Joe Gwinn Igor, I've milled plenty of acrylic using the Hansterfer S500 coolant that you have and there has been no crazing in any of it. Some of the parts date back nearly 3 years and I'd guess that would be enough time for crazing to become visible.. Mike, I totally love that coolant. It is the best! Has yours started to rot or stink yet? i |
#13
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Milling polycarbonate
"Ignoramus31991" wrote in message ... On 2010-09-04, Mike Henry wrote: "Joseph Gwinn" wrote in message ... In article , Ignoramus24760 wrote: On 2010-09-03, Joseph Gwinn wrote: In article , Ignoramus24760 wrote: I have a little project where I want to mill some holes and slots in 1/8" Lexan (polycarbonate). What is the best way to do it. Really fast feeds, medium speeds, and lots of coolant? Clean all the oil from the tools and fixtures, as polycarb will craze form oil. (Do not use emulsion coolant either.) Use lots straight tap water as a coolant. Go as fast as you can without the polycarb softening from the heat. Polycarb can be a bit grabby. Joe, I have my chip shield made from polycarbonate. It sees plenty of oil, but does not seem to craze? Hmm. Good point. The chip shield on my lathe is none the worse for wear either. I may be mixing polycarb up with acrylic. Unless the heat of machining allows the oil to get deeper into the material. I did a little looking: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...arbonate-19645 9/. It is the acrylic that is so oil sensitive. But still, water is the best coolant. Joe Gwinn Igor, I've milled plenty of acrylic using the Hansterfer S500 coolant that you have and there has been no crazing in any of it. Some of the parts date back nearly 3 years and I'd guess that would be enough time for crazing to become visible.. Mike, I totally love that coolant. It is the best! Has yours started to rot or stink yet? i Nope, even the change out that's been drying it in 5-gal bucks for the past few months has no odor. I use de-ionized water to dilute it though, and the lack of minerals may inhibit biological growth. |
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