Fly Cutter Head Material

[Ripthorn]

Howdy gents, I am looking to make myself a little 3/8" shank fly cutter. Right now I only need it for one or two small tasks, so I was hoping I could make it out of my scrap bin. I have 3/8" steel rod that I plan to thread in (and use epoxy or loctite or something) to the actual fly cutting head. I plan to true everything up on the lathe prior to sticking it in the mill. However, I don't really have any suitable steel in larger diameter (say, 1") and was wondering if I could use a different material while still getting a reasonable finish (don't need anything mirror shiny). I have 6061, bronze, and acetal available. I read somewhere that a fly cutter doesn't see a lot of stress when used right, so hopefully one of those materials will work, but I don't know how true that statement is. Thoughts or suggestions?

 

[DMS]

6061 would probably be ok. It won't last as long as steel, but depending on how often you use it, long could be really LONG. Bronze seems excessive, but would likely also work. Acetal is definitely too soft. With a 3/8" shaft I would keep the span of the cutter to a minimum, no more than maybe 1.5", but try it at 1" and see how it works first.