Member postings for Lawrie Alush-Jaggs

Hi

I have the Australian branded equivalent of the Warco 3024MW/3003MW mill drill.  It is an excellent machine and I have no real

gripes with it except for the lubrication system.
It has those dicky little brass inserts with a spring loaded ball bearing against which you are supposed to press a high pressure

plunger/pump.
ON these machines there is only one of the little buggers per side and it is in the middle of the table.  To get to it you have to

wind the table almost to its extent, remove the way protector and then hold said plunger at exactly ninety degrees and press.  It does not work.  The oil gallery has a capacity of less than two millilitres and because the table is wound so far out, any oil that does make it into the hole is liable to end up directly on the floor.
Thus far I have taken to winding the table to full extent in both directions with the gib loosened off as far as possible, rubbing

oil on the ways by hand, then lifting the table from the rear as I wind it back in.  This allows more oil to be

carried in but it is a pain.
I have read the articles on adding forced lube to both the Myford and an X3(2?) with interest and a pair of glasses.  I have

Hi Sam

Try the following links for spotting drills

http://www.suttontools.com.au/Catalogue_Australia_HighPerformance

http://www2.blackwoods.com.au/infoBANKproduct.aspx?SG=2000165&S=4084741&G=7722300&P=7799999

Lawrie

Conclusion

My suggestion is to estimate what other use you can get from the various tools listed here.  As metal workers you probably already have angle grinders so for occasional use buying cut off wheels makes sense.  This article is about thick section material and although the 100mm grinder did work it is really underpowered and too small for the job.  The 230mm wheels cost just twice as much as the 100mm but cut twice as fast and because of their diameter will cut much further.
If you like trepanning and need another hole in your head then I suggest you get a reciprocating saw.  I bought the reciprocating saw convinced that I needed it, that it would attract the ladies and that I would never need Viagra.  What a fool I was.  I haven’t yet found a job at which it excels at or is even enjoyable to use.  It is slow to prune trees.  Uncomfortable to use at almost any angle, inaccurate, noisy and a waste of cupboard space. But I won’t sell it.
The jigsaw is fine if you do wood work.  Don’t buy one unless you need to do lots of cutout work.
Sliding compound mitre saw. Excellent saw to have if you need to dock and mitre wood.  For the type of work the average MEW reader does it is not really the best option.  A metal cutting band saw is of more use.
Circular saw.  If you don’t have any of the other tools then to my mind the most frequently needed is a circular saw.  As it is the fastest, most accurate and give the best finish of all I would just buy a decent 8 ½” saw and an aluminium blade.  Why 8 ½” over a 9 1/4” ? a 9 ¼” saw blade is a beast. It is heavy and difficult to manage.  A 7 ½” is the nicest size that cuts the majority of timber that most people need but when it comes to cutting aluminium or steel an 8 ½” just has a little more guts that makes the job easier.

Material to cut: 16mm aluminium plate of no particular grade
Method Speed Noise Effectiveness* Cost
Hacksaw Dead slow Low Poor Cheap
Jigsaw Slow Moderate Reasonable Cheap if you have a good jigsaw to hand
Reciprocating saw Moderately fast Moderate Just does the job Don’t buy one just for this sort of work.
Circular saw Excitingly fast Awful Very Cheap if you already have one.
Band saw Fast Moderate Very Expensive but an excellent investment
Abrasive disk Fast – depends on size and wattage Loud Moderate Cheap
Water saw Moderately fast Low Excellent National Deficit
Router Moderate Loud Moderate – needs a guide Moderate

*Effectiveness is whether you can cut complex shapes and the ease with which the job is done
This table lists the cutting implement used, the quality of finish obtained, a photo of the finish and the distance cut over 1 minute.
All cuts timed over one minute in 16mm bullet resistant aluminium
 Tool Quality of finish mm/min cut
1 S711CF 6 tooth Photo 6 top, Reciprocating saw RAG* Very rough, need milling to clean up  Photo ac1 38mm
2 S1411DF 6 tooth Photo 6 middle,, Reciprocating saw As above Photo ac2 49mm
3 P-04905  24 tooth photo 6 bottom,, Reciprocating saw Rough.  Milling would be best but a number 1 bastard file or 14 grit AlO will get there Photo ac3 12mm
4 Flexovit FH38 A36S-BF41 ALU 230 mm in 9” angle grinder  Good. If the cut is accurate clean up with 120 grit to reasonable finish Photo ac4 144mm
5 Flexovit FH38 A36S-BF41 ALU 100 mm in 4” angle grinder As above Photo ac5 68mm
    
6 Koyo Aluminium blade 80 tooth in 9 ½” saw Best finish. If some swirl marks do not offend then you can leave as cut. Photo ac6 900mm in 55 seconds
7 15 tooth Bandsaw blade Good finish. Straight vertical lines will need 80 then 120 grit Photo ac7 untimed
8 Starrett Bi-metal 18 tooth hand hacksaw RAG.  Needs milling Photo ac8 35mm
9 Jig Saw A little rougher than the band saw but not much Photo ac9 38mm
*RAG  Rough As Guts

Cutting large pieces of aluminium

In issue 151 of MEW Dave Fenner talks about the difficulty he had cutting large pieces of aluminium for his metal mangle and suggested that someone might like to address the problem with an article.
I am not sure that it will stretch to a full article but here is some of my experience.
Some years ago a mate of mine bought a bank building when the Australian Banks were going through one of their “To serve you better” phases and shutting down loads of branches.  The bank took out everything that wasn’t bolted down and left everything that was.  Everything that was included all of the bits protective stuff that they put in, the shutters, heavy office panelling and the like.  The idea according to one of the designers I spoke to later was that the staff should be in an area that was mortar proof.  To that end the shutters are 10mm armour plate.  The panels for the Manager’s office are 16 mm bullet resistant aluminium plate with a 6mm air gap and then another sheet of 6 mm bullet resistant aluminium.
Needles to say I am quite well endowed with 16mm and 6 mm aluminium plate as well as huge barbecues of 10mm armour plate.
I wanted to build a multi-purpose saw/router/planer bench.  I had had a Triton for over twenty years and never been entirely satisfied with it.  I decided on a single plate 900mm square x 16mm thick.  I needed to cut it to size, square it all up and then cut a hole with a rebate in it to take a piece of 6 mm plate.  This was before I had a milling machine or a lathe bigger than a Unimat SL. 
I made the beast and it works like a charm.  The router bolts onto a plate and drops into the hole.  Similarly the 9 1/4” circular saw and the 75mm Makita planer.
This is what I found out about cutting large pieces of aluminium and the tools I tried.
1 Hacksaw
2 Jigsaw
3 Reciprocating saw
4 Circular saw
5 Band saw
6 Abrasive disk
7 Water saw
8 Router

Test method
I tried cuttibng with each tool except the router and water saw.  I don’t have any aluminium router bits at present and I also do not have a water saw.
I laid a piece of 900 mm wide 16mm bullet resistant aluminium plate on a pair of saw horses and with my daughter manning the timer cut with each tool for a period of one minute.  You can see the results in photo AC1 and AC2.  The cuts from bottom to top are as per the list in table 2
Tool quality
There are quite a number of people who are of the opinion that you are better off to just buy a cheap tool and throw it away when it is knackered than to buy a good and considerably more expensive one and look after it. There is a fallacy. 
1 Quality of finish.  Cheap tools like Ozito, GMC and to a lesser extent Ryobi have poor quality bearings and windings in them and as a consequence the bits that do the cutting wether saw blade or router bit wobble about like Jayne Masfield or Sabrina.  The finish is less accurate.
2 The second is a little more estoric.  We all have to look after the planet and 2.5 kg of saw bits being thrown away is 2.5 kg of bits.  The quality of manufacture has no bearing when the item becomes land fill.  There is an opportunity cost to using oil for making junk instead of a quality item.  Once we make a piece of junk we do not have those particular raw materials to make another item.  Just like in the scrap box.  What you use today you do not have for tomorrow

Lubricants
This test was made without lubricants or means of cooling except for the circular saw blade which had its teeth rubbed with candle wax in accordance with the manufacturers instructions.
In the past I have tried various lubricants on the jigsaw and reciprocating saw. WD 40, RP7, Penetrene, sterate/paraffin wax, Cool Tap and gear oil. I did not use kerosene (liquid paraffin) because of the spark risk from the jigsaw commutator. Although I felt better using a lubricant I can’t really say that there was a marked improvement in blade life because as I mentioned, I got through the 900mm cut with the blade still in good condition. If anything I would have to say that the addition of a lubricant tended to cause puddling of swarf around the cut rather than it being thrown off by the action of the saw. It also tends to make the swarf stay in the gullets. The gear oil was too heavy and prevented the saw from cutting.
Safety:
I have had more accidents than most people.  I have had more skin, bone, muscle and artery grafts than anyone I know.  I am not a safety nut.  I accept responsibility for my actions and I still have enough between the ears to work out for myself when something is dangerous.
All of the machinery listed here is noisier than your average lathe or milling machine where you have lots of mass to help absorb the sound. 
I urge you to wear hearing and eye protection when engaged in using the above tools.  I also suggest a dust jacket with tight sleeves. If you do try the router I suggest a full face shield.
If you use the abrasive disks you will also require a breathing mask of some description because of the fine powder that results.

Hacksaw. 
A new 18 tooth bimetal hacksaw blade will help you develop a massive bicep and deltoid muscle with a little extra added to the latissimus dorsi.  You will be able to cut to the depth of the hacksaw frame but it will take a long time and unless you are good with the saw will probably end up with too much cleanup work due to wobbly cutting.  Not recommended.<

Hi Howard

Lawrie

Hi Michael

I have to confess to having missunderstoodd what you were trying to do when I answered you question.  I thought you were trying to machine the face rather than the circumference.
In answer to your latest question though you can certainly mill the cut you need and you will get a better  job for the depth you require.
If you mill on the side of the cutter using X and Y you will end up with a radius at the bottom of the cut and it will require a fairly long cutter to acheive the depth you want.
If you mill using the bottom of the cutter and the Z axis for feed you wil have to be on dead centre with the cutter and the rotary table otherwise you will end up with a dished bottom of cut. 
Cutting using Z is better from the point of view of tool length though you are quite possibly going to end up with problems with collet holder clearing the jaws of the chuck - assuming you are using one.  If you aren't and are going to bolt directly to your rotary table you will most likely still have a problem given the diameter of your table.
Firstly.  If you can drill the center of the peice you want to groove, then I would do that and superglue and bolt the peice to that and mount it in the chuck on your table.  That will give you plenty of clearance.  When you are done, just remove the bolt and give the disk a good whack with a soft face hammer,  the glue can then be cut off with a razor blade.
If you don't have a chuck, then turn up a morse taper with a stub protrusion to suit the RT, turn a thread on the end of it to take the disk, drill and thread the disk and screw it onto the MT.
If you can't drill it, then I would mount it on the RT horizontally clamping it in two places in less than half the diameter and then cut just over half the circumference with a slitting saw.  It will take you several passes to achieve both the Z and X depths you require and you will have to reclamp but it will get you there.

Lawrie