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| AdeV:
--- Quote from: CrewCab on February 09, 2010, 08:38:31 PM --- --- Quote from: AdeV on February 09, 2010, 07:35:25 PM ---I will have to pick the swarf up, however, from what must be a 20 ft radius! --- End quote --- a £25 Argos vacuum could be a good investment :thumbup: Looking forward to following this Ade, ................ good looking Capri, I'm guessing Dad doesn't drive over many raised manhole covers :bugeye: CC :beer: --- End quote --- I have the vacuum cleaner - it dribbles cutting oil everywhere it goes, the filters are that wet - but I found that I couldn't get the nozzle close enough to the cutter, especially on the deep cuts, to be of any practical use. About 45 mins of that time at the milling machine was spent digging the compacted swarf out of the trough, where the vac had failed to pick it up. The air blast - whilst incomparably messier - had the advantage of both cooling the cutter so I could run it dry, and keeping the trough swarf free (by making the workshop anything but swarf free, I admit...). The Capri has seen some "bouncing off the kerbs" action, fortunately they tend not to have manholes on racing circuits :) It also got crashed into a few times... always at the front, of course; luckily, no mechanical damage, only bodywork and the occasional suspension strut. Mine will look extremely similar, although I hope to blend the bodywork into the arches a bit better; and I'm trying to figure out how to get double-wishbone front suspension in; one of the problems Dad had with those massive front tyres combined with a McPherson strut was, he ended up with a large scrub angle: So, as you turn the steering wheel, the outside tyre tries to push forward & the inner tyre tries to pull backwards - if you see what I mean - instead of pivoting on a point. The result is massively heavy steering, and a decided lack of controllability, especially under braking. Not to mention excessive front tyre wear. He's fixed that by going back to narrower front tyres; I plan to get my offsets correct & use the fact I can get a double-wishbone much further into the wheel than a McPherson strut will ever manage. |
| Jasonb:
I'd probably have gone for a larger dia cutter to keep the depth/dia ratio a bit better. And also cutting fluid, looks like you are cutting dry. Jason |
| AdeV:
--- Quote from: Jasonb on February 10, 2010, 02:35:17 AM ---I'd probably have gone for a larger dia cutter to keep the depth/dia ratio a bit better. And also cutting fluid, looks like you are cutting dry. --- End quote --- I certainly considered a larger cutter, but the 8mm cutters seem to have 10mm shanks, which would mean a minimum 10mm cut - almost twice as much material lost to swarf as with the 6mm. That said, if it ends up costing me £25+ in cutters, then that is a false economy. I'll see how long this 6mm cutter lasts before making any width changes. As for cutting fluid; I used a bit of WD40 when the going got tough, which certainly helped the shank of the cutter to slide through. The tool itself barely got warm, however, so I think the speed I'm pushing it at is well within its dry capabilities. I did try it at 4600rpm for a while - and it really would power through the ali at that speed - but what with needing one hand to hold the air line, one hand to pump the coolant, one hand to work the power feed or manual feed, I found I was short of arms to the tune of 50%... Of course, the answer would be to get the flood coolant system running, but I've no drip tray on the mill so it would go everywhere... |
| No1_sonuk:
Wouldn't a circular saw or angle-grinder be an easier way of getting through that? |
| AdeV:
--- Quote from: No1_sonuk on February 10, 2010, 07:49:25 AM ---Wouldn't a circular saw or angle-grinder be an easier way of getting through that? --- End quote --- It was considered: - Circular saw is a pain, it still won't cut full depth, and is almost uncontrollable viz direction, and needs three arms to operate if using coolant, which you have to because otherwise it jams up in that depth of ali. I've cut a 1.5" deep piece before now, and so long as you're patient, it will cut that depth... just. - Angle grinder; again, depth is the problem; but also the discs just clog up with aluminium. I also considered a jigsaw, but again, it'd just take far too long, and I'm not sure if it's got the depth. The best option would be a proper vertical bandsaw, a large Startrite for example (not the toy DeWalt one I have) - but the cost of buying & installing one far outweighs the lost material, cutters and time of milling it out, and my comedy bandsaw is OK for most of the jobs I throw at it. |
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