Milling slots on round tube

A

agshooter

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So I am trying to replicate the painted tube, just make it longer. I’m using a mini mill with a 3” vise. The tube is 2” OD and 26” long.

im thinking I need to just clamp it to the table and mill each row of slots. Remove, rotate and clamp, repeat. However, I do t think the spacing would be that accurate.

so then I was thinking i need to acquire and use a rotary table with a Chuck. I then would be able to space the slots accurately and would be quicker than clamping to table.

thoughts?
 

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How many rows of slots are there? Are the rows evenly spaced around the tube? That info will allow people to better respond to your question.
 
Sorry, left that out.

looking down the tube - evenly spaced slots along the length of the tube at 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, (long continuous slot at 6:00), 7:30, 9:00, and 10:30.
 
One solution would be to make an a fixture with 8 sides and a 2 inch hole down the middle of the fixture. Set screws to hold the work in the fixture and a locating screw or pin so you can put the work back in the fixture in the same position if you should have remove the work from the fixture. The fixture would go on one end of the work and you would probably need a support on the other end. Clamp this to the table on your mill. Mill a row of slots. Then rotate the fixture and mill another row of slots. Repeat this until you are done.
 
A rose index is what I described. Thanks Aukai for the name. Did a search and watched a couple of videos on how to make and use one. Looks to be fairly simple to make. I just might have to make one.
 
I made 2 indexes. I don't have a swivel on my vise so it required more set up and time but it's doable .
 
You will need to hold the tube by the ends. The long slots will allow the tube to collapse if you try to hold it in the vise. Regardless how you hold it the 3 long cuts will make it very flimsy. It would be n ideal job for a laser.
 
I would consider putting a tight fitting wooden dowel right thru the tube before cutting any slots.
When using either the mill vise or clamping to the table, it will help avoid collapsing the tube.

-brino
 
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