I need to mill some slots in some 1095, annealed steel. I can use a dremel
to finish up, or file work. The slot (or groove, a long hole) is to be .25"
x 3 "

Is it possible to chuck some kind of machinist bit in a router to do the
job? The material is .125 thick. My router has variable speed, of course,
and I plant to build a jig if this is possible.

My other alternative is to just drill some holes, and grind out the excess,
of course.

Thanks for any help....

Michael

"Michael" wrote in message
...

My other alternative is to just drill some holes, and grind out the
excess,
of course.


I don't think you'll get very far with a router in steel.

There's a considerable safety risk associated with trying to support the
cutter with your body, but the real issue is the speed/rigidity of the
cutter. A router spins too fast for a HSS cutter, and carbide is far too
brittle to take that kind of abuse.

Your chain drilling method is a good one - even if you were going to mill
the slot after.

Regards,

Robin

Michael wrote:
I need to mill some slots in some 1095, annealed steel. I can use a dremel
to finish up, or file work. The slot (or groove, a long hole) is to be .25"
x 3 "

Is it possible to chuck some kind of machinist bit in a router to do the
job? The material is .125 thick. My router has variable speed, of course,
and I plant to build a jig if this is possible.

My other alternative is to just drill some holes, and grind out the excess,
of course.
I really don't think you can do this with a router. You can just barely
do it on aluminum, but the cutting speed is way too high for steel. The
cutting forces will make it very hard to control the router, only a
carbide cutter would have any chance of handling that surface speed,
but it chips so easily.

This is a job for a milling machine.

Jon

On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 17:32:23 -0800, "Michael"
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I need to mill some slots in some 1095, annealed steel. I can use a dremel
to finish up, or file work. The slot (or groove, a long hole) is to be .25"
x 3 "

Is it possible to chuck some kind of machinist bit in a router to do the
job? The material is .125 thick. My router has variable speed, of course,
and I plant to build a jig if this is possible.

What is the router's minimum speed? I have actually done slots using a
TC burr in steel that was about 1/2" thick, using a bench drill (flame
pants on). But that was slow speed..... say 200 RPM with a 1/2" diam
burr. It worked. I would not make a living out of it! G. This was a
"once a year" job.

I have also free-handed into similar steels, using a hand drill, at up
to 1300 RPM. Takes practice.

I used a round-ended burr, rather than a square ended one, and drilled
ths start hole first. The round ended one is a good "GP" burr that
will not chip as easily.


My other alternative is to just drill some holes, and grind out the excess,
of course.

Thanks for any help....

Michael

I would thik those chips off the router would be a tad hot
"Old Nick" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 17:32:23 -0800, "Michael"
vaguely proposed a theory
......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I need to mill some slots in some 1095, annealed steel. I can use a dremel
to finish up, or file work. The slot (or groove, a long hole) is to be
.25"
x 3 "

Is it possible to chuck some kind of machinist bit in a router to do the
job? The material is .125 thick. My router has variable speed, of course,
and I plant to build a jig if this is possible.

What is the router's minimum speed? I have actually done slots using a
TC burr in steel that was about 1/2" thick, using a bench drill (flame
pants on). But that was slow speed..... say 200 RPM with a 1/2" diam
burr. It worked. I would not make a living out of it! G. This was a
"once a year" job.

I have also free-handed into similar steels, using a hand drill, at up
to 1300 RPM. Takes practice.

I used a round-ended burr, rather than a square ended one, and drilled
ths start hole first. The round ended one is a good "GP" burr that
will not chip as easily.


My other alternative is to just drill some holes, and grind out the
excess,
of course.

Thanks for any help....

Michael

In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

I need to mill some slots in some 1095, annealed steel. I can use a dremel
to finish up, or file work. The slot (or groove, a long hole) is to be .25"
x 3 "
....
My other alternative is to just drill some holes, and grind out the excess,
of course.

Either use this as an excuse to buy a mill, or drill and file. Drilling
and filing should not take all that long if the files are sharp. Faster
than grinding with a Dremel, usually. You can do an amazing amount of
work with a sharp file if you put your mind to it, and make sure that
your workpiece is not harder than your file.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

Is there any way to use aluminum instead? Aluminum will work with
woodworking tools.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Michael" wrote in message
...
I need to mill some slots in some 1095, annealed steel. I can use
a dremel
to finish up, or file work. The slot (or groove, a long hole) is
to be .25"
x 3 "

Is it possible to chuck some kind of machinist bit in a router
to do the
job? The material is .125 thick. My router has variable speed,
of course,
and I plant to build a jig if this is possible.

My other alternative is to just drill some holes, and grind out
the excess,
of course.

Thanks for any help....

Michael

Thanks for the replies, guys! Been trying to get this done.......and no,
can't use aluminum.
However, can you saw al with a table saw? Wonder which blade, and how thick
you can go??

Anyway, I got the slot cut using drilled holes, a cut-off blade in the angle
grinder, and a dremel for the ends. Look ok, but wouldn't want to do 100 of
these things!!




DanG wrote in message
news:jcSod.60939$_g6.9051@okepread03...

Is there any way to use aluminum instead? Aluminum will work with
woodworking tools.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Michael" wrote in message
...
I need to mill some slots in some 1095, annealed steel. I can use
a dremel
to finish up, or file work. The slot (or groove, a long hole) is
to be .25"
x 3 "

Is it possible to chuck some kind of machinist bit in a router
to do the
job? The material is .125 thick. My router has variable speed,
of course,
and I plant to build a jig if this is possible.

My other alternative is to just drill some holes, and grind out
the excess,
of course.

Thanks for any help....

Michael

"Michael" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the replies, guys! Been trying to get this done.......and no,
can't use aluminum.
However, can you saw al with a table saw? Wonder which blade, and how
thick
you can go??


Yes, you can saw aluminum on a table saw. For maximum safety, quality of cut
and blade life, purchase a "non-ferrous" blade. The carbide teeth are set at
the correct angle to reduce grabbing and give a good feed.

Regards,

Robin