New Guy Question. Advice Needed

kentuckyjim

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I am pretty new to machining so your advice will be appreciated. I make reel seat hardware and ferrules for bamboo fly rods. I see vintage hardware trimmed with thin .020 or so incised trim lines. Sometimes there are two lines side by side. I have seen grooving tooling to buy but it is generally too wide. How do you suggest I go about making these trim lines.
 
Depending on what machines you have available and your comfort level on each, I see several options.

First thought would be grind a piece of high speed steel like you would a parting or grooving bit, just a lot narrower. I'd choose a small size blank to start with, maybe 3/16" or 1/4", so the grinding would be minimal. It might seem a little daunting, but the actual cutting part would not need to be very long at all. As long as there was front relief under the cutting edge you may not even need any side relief.

Second choice might be hand-holding a small similarly ground tool as one would a very small wood turning tool using a tool rest. I used to do a lot of inlay work, and for very narrow chisels I discovered X-Acto blades (at least the ones thirty years ago) were darn nice steel. I'd grind the end square (like a parting tool), give it a hone with a soft Arkansas, and away we go. Again, you're not going very deep into the work, so handholding on a tool rest should be doable. Similar to the way jewellers use gravers for freehand metal turning.

Both of the above methods would yield a square bottom groove. If that wasn't critical to you, a sharply ground thread cutting bit would give a vee-shaped groove. The side by side grooves demand a bit more creativity but I'm sure you could get there easy enough. I'd see how making singles went first though, and then figure on how to twin the cutting edge after.

Just my thinking.

-frank
 
image.jpeg Couldn't resist trying! The hand-held X-Acto blade worked fine in brass, and turns out it's exactly 0.020" thick to boot!

Two side by side grooves about twenty thou deep. Material is 0.450" diameter free machining brass.

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Wow! That looks exactly like what I am trying to do. I appreciate your support. I am new and still reluctant to wade in too deep and do something stupid or dangerous. Thank you both!


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Maybe they are not “cut” with a tool/tool bit. But instead made with a “rolling die” type tool.
 
Maybe a tubing cutter? I wouldn't be afraid to use a small barret file.
 
If a V-cut instead of a flat bottomed cut is acceptable, a standard threading tool will do it. Gravers will do this easily as well.
 
Thanks guys for some great ideas. I tried the xacto blade this afternoon. Perfect slot but dulled quickly and wasn't rigid. Shortened the overhang but wasn't quite ideal.
I had an inexpensive set of carving tools. I took one and ground a cutting edge. Worked good on the1st groove but dulled and the kerf became too wide.
Tomorrow I will try some of the other suggestions. The V grooves are what I tried when I 1st began. The flat bottom grooves are best in my opinion.
Thanks. For your input


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