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  1. #1
    Im after a few ideas as its come up recently on another project that zeeflyboy very kindly helped me with but now its come up again.

    I am trying to make this part not necessarily all on a cnc but however possible and that will be the easiest and cheapest way for a bit of a test.

    basically the bit im stuck on is I want to put a 8mm radius on the edges of a bit of 25mm aluminum stock.

    im not sure if my current cnc is going to be up for cutting ali but I could give it a try I guess.


    What are my best options/methods?

    many thanks

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  2. #2
    If you want 8mm radii and that sharp step in size as in the image you can only do this as a 4 Axis milling job, CNC or Manual.
    You think that's too expensive? You're not a Model Engineer are you? :D

  3. #3
    m_c's Avatar
    Lives in East Lothian, United Kingdom. Last Activity: 2 Days Ago Forum Superstar, has done so much to help others, they deserve a medal. Has been a member for 9-10 years. Has a total post count of 2,908. Received thanks 360 times, giving thanks to others 8 times.
    Radius cutter, however 8mm may be a bit big for anything but a reasonable size machine with a relatively slow spindle.
    I've just checked the first cutter I found (arc euro trade), and an 8mm radius cutter is 24mm OD, with 8mm centre, and a 16mm shank, so a failry substantial machine would be needed.

    Removing the bulk of material using a normal endmill and several passes would mean minimal cutting for a final finishing cutting pass.

    Other option would depend on how good a radius you want. You could probably get a reasonably OK finish using a ball end mill and multiple passes.
    Avoiding the rubbish customer service from AluminiumWarehouse since July '13.

  4. #4
    But how do you transition from one size to the other with a radius cutter?
    I suppose you could clean the transition up with a file?
    You think that's too expensive? You're not a Model Engineer are you? :D

  5. #5
    m_c's Avatar
    Lives in East Lothian, United Kingdom. Last Activity: 2 Days Ago Forum Superstar, has done so much to help others, they deserve a medal. Has been a member for 9-10 years. Has a total post count of 2,908. Received thanks 360 times, giving thanks to others 8 times.
    Quote Originally Posted by magicniner View Post
    But how do you transition from one size to the other with a radius cutter?
    I suppose you could clean the transition up with a file?
    He only asked about the radius edges, not the stepped bit ;-)

    It all depends on the quality of finish required.
    Avoiding the rubbish customer service from AluminiumWarehouse since July '13.

  6. #6
    You think that's too expensive? You're not a Model Engineer are you? :D

  7. #7
    cool wasn't aware you could get something like that for metal, I was searching for round over bits but only found wood type ones. I may be able to put that in my x2 mini mill just. I can get away with not having the step for the prototype . I guess the best way to get that would be on a 4 axis machine, if anyone thinks they can cnc this if its not going to cost a fortune just drop me a pm

    many thanks

  8. #8
    Neale's Avatar
    Lives in Plymouth, United Kingdom. Last Activity: 19 Hours Ago Has been a member for 9-10 years. Has a total post count of 1,725. Received thanks 295 times, giving thanks to others 11 times.
    Are the radiused edges purely cosmetic, or is sizing critical? You could start with a round bar chosen to give about the right radius on the corners and then machine flats to form the faces? Not sure how you would then handle the stepped-down section; personally I would probably stick the bar in a 4-jaw chuck and turn the corner off on a lathe. CNC isn't the only answer! Be interested to hear how you solve it in the end.

  9. #9
    its not 100% critical I'm making another part that this will slide into, I was wondering about getting a 4 jaw chuck for my lathe and doing exactly that but I drew it up and it just didn't look nice at all so left that idea. I had also considered trying to find some 8 sided hex. bar but that doesn't seam to be easily available. I really must get on the case of building a better cnc to do this sort of work although it looks like that will now have to include a 4th axis!

  10. #10
    so I purchased the bit but didn't realize er20 collet doesn't go up to 16mm so I had a try on my X2 mini mill however it was a bit of a struggle for it and it didn't turn out perfect, just wondering if anyone in the Sussex area had any sort of machine that would take the bit and could do any of the machining for some beer tokens?

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