i thought sawing by hand would take longer?
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Cutting 1 inch thick aluminum stock possible with a scroll saw?
- Thread starter defcon
- Start date
i thought sawing by hand would take longer?
Using a sawzall to cut heavy metal is both time consuming and tiring.... AND... the cut tends to become wavy... in multiple axis/planes... which will require lots of milling to clean up... so one is back where one started with time...
ondering:If it were me.... I would take this as a learning experience on the specific operation you need to do.... doing it on a mill. Seems the way we collect tooling... is when we need them...
) When I get in a situation where I need to learn a new way to do things... after it is done... I have learned a bunch; and next time I can do it better. Few (if any) do it the best way the first time... that is an ego trip I have fallen for too many times... thankfully I have learned better... :thumbsup2:
Remember... Pictures, or it did not happen... :lmao:
Then we can all learn something new... which for me is as much fun as the finished item :allgood:
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2014
- Messages
- 578
The roughing cutters I bought from Enco are 3 & 4 Flute 5/8". It's a good all-around size for quick material removal on a small machine. Figure your radius size and get a roughing and finishing mill (all in one pass).
Course or fine roughing end mill?
nm i just purchased a course 3 flute
Roughing High Speed Steel End Mill, 1/4" Mill Diameter, 3/8" Shank Diameter, 5/8" Length of Cut
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- Jul 26, 2011
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- 4,142
The machine pictured on the last page is a scroll saw,or jig saw. The hand held power tool that everyone calls a jig saw is a saber saw,or a bayonet saw.
I certainly would not try cutting metal of much thickness with the old,classic Delta scroll saw from the 40's-50's-60's.. It had pot metal guts that would very easily tear up. They wanted $275.00 for the part that made the vertical shaft reciprocate because it was a "HISTORIC PART". A young friend of mine bought a Delta that had broken that way. I showed him how to make a new part from solid steel. It wasn't hard to do,and will last forever. I have bought one of those old Deltas. Wonder when I'll be making that part?
The virtue of that old saw is: The blade goes straight up and straight down. All these rocking beam type new scroll saws,including the expensive Hegners,go back and forth,sanding and messing up the edges of small parts you are trying to make.
I had a Hegner. It was miserable to put blades on. I got it cheap,and sold it when I got the Delta.
This is a machine I seldom use. I got it for kids to be taught on. At least it won't cut their fingers off like a bandsaw.
I certainly would not try cutting metal of much thickness with the old,classic Delta scroll saw from the 40's-50's-60's.. It had pot metal guts that would very easily tear up. They wanted $275.00 for the part that made the vertical shaft reciprocate because it was a "HISTORIC PART". A young friend of mine bought a Delta that had broken that way. I showed him how to make a new part from solid steel. It wasn't hard to do,and will last forever. I have bought one of those old Deltas. Wonder when I'll be making that part?
The virtue of that old saw is: The blade goes straight up and straight down. All these rocking beam type new scroll saws,including the expensive Hegners,go back and forth,sanding and messing up the edges of small parts you are trying to make.
I had a Hegner. It was miserable to put blades on. I got it cheap,and sold it when I got the Delta.
This is a machine I seldom use. I got it for kids to be taught on. At least it won't cut their fingers off like a bandsaw.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
- Messages
- 613
If push came to shove I'd make a set of 3/4 high density fibre board masks and clamp /screw everything down on a table top with a sacrificial board underneath .
Wood screw everything together put lots of locating /fixing screws & strips of wood around the outer sides of the aluminium to stop things moving in the mask and countersink all the screw heads in the top surfaces .
Then screw 3 inch or so wide by 1/2 inch thick wooden guide strips on to guide my 1800 watt 240 volt Bosch plunge router as I used a 1/2 or 1/4 inch parallel tungsten carbide router bit and take 1/8 of an inch or less of aluminium out on on each pass.
All you have to remember is to allow for the difference from the outer edge of the guide plate to the edge of the cutter when setting up the guide strips .
Yes you do need eyes & ears safety protection and gloves but it is not as difficult or dangerous as one might first imagine when using a heavy weight double handed high speed router.
Wood screw everything together put lots of locating /fixing screws & strips of wood around the outer sides of the aluminium to stop things moving in the mask and countersink all the screw heads in the top surfaces .
Then screw 3 inch or so wide by 1/2 inch thick wooden guide strips on to guide my 1800 watt 240 volt Bosch plunge router as I used a 1/2 or 1/4 inch parallel tungsten carbide router bit and take 1/8 of an inch or less of aluminium out on on each pass.
All you have to remember is to allow for the difference from the outer edge of the guide plate to the edge of the cutter when setting up the guide strips .
Yes you do need eyes & ears safety protection and gloves but it is not as difficult or dangerous as one might first imagine when using a heavy weight double handed high speed router.
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- Mar 10, 2013
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We are machinists. this is not part of our collective thought process.... does not compute
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- Jan 22, 2014
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You'll have to see what your machine will handle, but start slow and easy. Being 1/4", it probably won't be able to plow through the whole depth in pass. You should be able to knock off .100" increments and follow up with a cleanup around the perimeter.
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- Nov 24, 2013
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Speak for your self. I do everything perfect the first time. I needed a ugly mark in a fresh bore today so I ran the boring bar right into the back of the hole. I got my ugly mark and learned the bar apparently was cheap from the bent shank and broke carbide. AHAHAHAHA
Using a sawzall to cut heavy metal is both time consuming and tiring.... AND... the cut tends to become wavy... in multiple axis/planes... which will require lots of milling to clean up... so one is back where one started with time...
If it were me.... I would take this as a learning experience on the specific operation you need to do.... doing it on a mill. Seems the way we collect tooling... is when we need them...
When I get in a situation where I need to learn a new way to do things... after it is done... I have learned a bunch; and next time I can do it better. Few (if any) do it the best way the first time... that is an ego trip I have fallen for too many times... thankfully I have learned better... :thumbsup2:
Remember... Pictures, or it did not happen... :lmao:
Then we can all learn something new... which for me is as much fun as the finished item :allgood: