Gallery, Projects and General > How do I??

Aluminum Bronze?

(1/2) > >>

SPiN Racing:
Hi Guys

I have been drinking in all the posts.. and gettimg myself deep into projects and various things in the garage.. lots of advice taken, and pondered. Even put in my 2cp along the way. :)

SOo I was at the boat salvage yard.. and they had a piece of HEX Bronze that was 2" across. and about 6' long. and Bronze is 6 dollars a POUND. sooooo I didnt buy it. But I wanted to.. but silly expensive Im certain.

SO I went to the metal heaven.. and they have a variety of new bronze, and some drops.. but much of it is smaller stuff.. rods, and hex. 1/2 inch and smaller.

They also had some bars.. of that aluminum bronze stuff. Like 2" by 1" by multi feet long. And some that was 1/2 inch thick and 4" wide.. and multiple feet long as well.

SO I was thinking of getting some bronze/brass down the road here so I could start getting all the supplies to build my own engine etc.


Sooooooo.... Is there anything I need to know about that aluminized bronze stuff in relation to making small air engines? Or steam? (I dont have any experience with boilers and no desire to die.. so no hurry for steam)
I remember people getting some and kinda being iffy on the stuff.. but im not remembering the issues that might have been encountered.

sbwhart:
Hi Scot

Ally bronze can be a bit sticky to machine I've burnt drills up with it, so you have to develop a different technique in machining it, good sharp tools, keep clearing the swarf, play around with feeds and speeds until you get something that works ok, also because of the ally its difficult/next to impossible  to silver solder, thats just my experience other may wish to add to this. I also found out much to my surprise that its magnetic, try a good strong magnet on it.


Phosphor bronze is much easyer to work with.

Hope this helps

Stew

Darren:
I have some I wanted to use for my engine build, machined ok, but I just couldn't drill it even with a 2.5mm drill bit.

I tried real hard, ie lots of bits, It either rounded off the tips or snapped them. I even tried heating it to cherry read to aneal it...no joy... :bang:

bogstandard:
Scott,

I think this material has been discussed before, but under different circumstances.

As with any of these bronze materials, unless you know the exact makeup of the alloy it is very difficult to know how to machine it, as each mix usually requires a different machining technique. Some requiring a fast and heavy cutting action, others need to go as slow as possible to get thru the material.

I have aluminium bronze in my boxes that machines just wonderfully, and I use it mainly for making pistons and bigs ends. I used the same material for making the tapered gibs in Darrens lathe. Another mix of alibronze, and you could get the same problem as Darren is encountering.

Most of the special mixes are made for doing a specific job, and are not really suitable for general model engineering jobs, unless you are lucky, like myself, and find a load of good machinable material at a super low price.

In my honest opinion, if you are going to invest a little cash in bronze, do so on the known alloys, that are known to be easily machineable.
In the UK, that is generally recognised as PB1 or Colphos, which are versions of normal bearing bronze, not ali bronze.


John

SPiN Racing:
Very cool.. thank you much for all the info guys.. Thats exactly what I wanted to hear. And it clarifies my confusion on the material.

I think its like saying.."Stainless" There are a lot of varieties that I am certain machine differently. The offshore boar driveshaft I have been nibbling away at machines real nice.. but its VERY VERY hard metal. Gold colored shavings. Other stainless I bought thats 316, machines real nice but a tad gummy.

SO the ali bronze I will pass on. The price for me is no different than the more yellowish standard types of bronze they have. The ali bronze is brownish. Seems heavier.

Thank you very much guys... (i cant afford to replace a bunch of bits either, if its the mean type LOL)


Scott

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page