Tips for working with aluminum

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] what do you call that special nut (that you can remove by hand) on your grinder in the other thread?

Michael are you talking about this nut? If so it's the Festool quick release nut they provide with the AGC 18. I also added one to both of my Milwaukee RA grinders.

[attachimg=1]

Interesting that Milwaukee thought it was important to include that style nut on this 19 year old Milwaukee abrasive saw yet they didn't provide it on their newer RA grinders.  [scratch chin]

[attachimg=2]

 

[rvieceli]

Michael the style of nut is available from a lot of vendors online and if you gave a Home Depot nearby.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-Fixtec-Tool-Free-Grinder-Flange-Nut-49-40-2783/308642822

Ron

 

[rmwarren]

That's a real nice jig you made Richard  [thumbs up]  I just may have to copy that.  [big grin]  Was the slotting done with the Shaper Origin?  I really like the hold down feature, simple but effective, very clever.

Thanks. Yes, cut with Origin on the WorkStation with and o-flute. It's been greeting a regular diet of 6061 lately.

RMW

 

[festal]

That's a real nice jig you made Richard  [thumbs up]  I just may have to copy that.  [big grin]  Was the slotting done with the Shaper Origin?  I really like the hold down feature, simple but effective, very clever.

Thanks. Yes, cut with Origin on the WorkStation with and o-flute. It's been greeting a regular diet of 6061 lately.

RMW

Still trying to figure out how its used lol

 

[rmwarren]

That's a real nice jig you made Richard  [thumbs up]  I just may have to copy that.  [big grin]  Was the slotting done with the Shaper Origin?  I really like the hold down feature, simple but effective, very clever.

Thanks. Yes, cut with Origin on the WorkStation with and o-flute. It's been greeting a regular diet of 6061 lately.

RMW

Still trying to figure out how its used lol

Not sure I can do this with words.

Say I am starting with a piece of bar stock that varies from 39 to 41mm over a 100mm length, and I need to finish at 38.1mm over the length. With the hard stop against the grinder front esdge I'd use a 38.1mm gage block pushed against the disk to set the fence. The hard stop prevents the jig for moving any closer to the disk but it can slide further away.

With the rough stock clamped against the fence there is between 0.9 and 1.9mm hanging over the front edge and the hard stop is not touching the front edge of the grinder. I just grind that stock away until the hard stop prevents any further movement towards the disk and the stock is now the same size as the dimension the fence was set to.

Make any sense? A 10 second video would make it clear.

RMW

 

[tsmi243]

What does the bar inside the miter slot do?

And is that a diy disc sander?  Much nicer table than I'm used to seeing.  I love cast iron....

 

[festal]

That's a real nice jig you made Richard  [thumbs up]  I just may have to copy that.  [big grin]  Was the slotting done with the Shaper Origin?  I really like the hold down feature, simple but effective, very clever.

Thanks. Yes, cut with Origin on the WorkStation with and o-flute. It's been greeting a regular diet of 6061 lately.

RMW

Still trying to figure out how its used lol

Not sure I can do this with words.

Say I am starting with a piece of bar stock that varies from 39 to 41mm over a 100mm length, and I need to finish at 38.1mm over the length. With the hard stop against the grinder front esdge I'd use a 38.1mm gage block pushed against the disk to set the fence. The hard stop prevents the jig for moving any closer to the disk but it can slide further away.

With the rough stock clamped against the fence there is between 0.9 and 1.9mm hanging over the front edge and the hard stop is not touching the front edge of the grinder. I just grind that stock away until the hard stop prevents any further movement towards the disk and the stock is now the same size as the dimension the fence was set to.

Make any sense? A 10 second video would make it clear.

RMW

It does. Video would be great. Also have same question as above. About the jig itself. And filing the table front. What does that do?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rmwarren]

That's a real nice jig you made Richard  [thumbs up]  I just may have to copy that.  [big grin]  Was the slotting done with the Shaper Origin?  I really like the hold down feature, simple but effective, very clever.

Thanks. Yes, cut with Origin on the WorkStation with and o-flute. It's been greeting a regular diet of 6061 lately.

RMW

Still trying to figure out how its used lol

Not sure I can do this with words.

Say I am starting with a piece of bar stock that varies from 39 to 41mm over a 100mm length, and I need to finish at 38.1mm over the length. With the hard stop against the grinder front esdge I'd use a 38.1mm gage block pushed against the disk to set the fence. The hard stop prevents the jig for moving any closer to the disk but it can slide further away.

With the rough stock clamped against the fence there is between 0.9 and 1.9mm hanging over the front edge and the hard stop is not touching the front edge of the grinder. I just grind that stock away until the hard stop prevents any further movement towards the disk and the stock is now the same size as the dimension the fence was set to.

Make any sense? A 10 second video would make it clear.

RMW

It does. Video would be great. Also have same question as above. About the jig itself. And filing the table front. What does that do?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The front edge needed to be absolutely parallel with the disk to use it as reference. The casting was slightly rough so I had to grind and file it slightly until it was smooth and consistent. 

I'll see about a video, I'm not set up for anything other than phone so it wouldn't be pretty...

RMW

 

[rmwarren]

What does the bar inside the miter slot do?

And is that a diy disc sander?  Much nicer table than I'm used to seeing.  I love cast iron....

It's a 25 year old Delta 12" sander. Import but a really nice tool that gets tons of use, IIRC it was my first marital Xmas gift.

The screws holding that bar are tightened with the hard stop against the table edge before setting the fence with a gage block. Then loosen the screws so the jig can move away from the disk and the excess material to be ground off hangs over the front edge.

The jig is intended for removing the last couple mm from rough cut stock to end up with precision parts. It there is more than a mm or two of stock to remove I'll free hand it first then take the last little bit off using the jig.

RMW

 

[rmwarren]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] what do you call that special nut (that you can remove by hand) on your grinder in the other thread?

Michael are you talking about this nut? If so it's the Festool quick release nut they provide with the AGC 18. I also added one to both of my Milwaukee RA grinders.

[attachimg=1]

Interesting that Milwaukee thought it was important to include that style nut on this 19 year old Milwaukee abrasive saw yet they didn't provide it on their newer RA grinders.  [scratch chin]

[attachimg=2]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] does the Festool angle grinder offer any benefit that justify the cost premium over a yellow or red one?

The handle orientation looks good for cutting but then it's sideways for most grinding, the opposite of common right-angle grinders.

None of my grinders have variable speed, but I'm not sure I miss/need it.

RMW

 

[festal]

[member=8712]Richard/RMW[/member] which one is the hard stop?  one riding in the groove or the one against the edge of the table?

 

[rmwarren]

[member=8712]Richard/RMW[/member] which one is the hard stop?  one riding in the groove or the one against the edge of the table?

Against the table edge. The bar in the groove is only used when setting the fence.

I'll try to cobble together a video today.

RMW

 

[festal]

[member=8712]Richard/RMW[/member] which one is the hard stop?  one riding in the groove or the one against the edge of the table?

Against the table edge. The bar in the groove is only used when setting the fence.

I'll try to cobble together a video today.

Thank you

RMW

 

[rvieceli]

Richard - Don't you have a mini mill? Couldn't you make those by standing them on edge in the mill vise and running them under a cutter?

Is it not rigid enough to hold the tolerances you need?

Ron

 

[rmwarren]

Richard - Don't you have a mini mill? Couldn't you make those by standing them on edge in the mill vise and running them under a cutter?

Is it not rigid enough to hold the tolerances you need?

Ron

Used to Ron, but no longer, no room. I'd love to have space for a decent mill and small (not mini) lathe.

This setup actually works really well, takes longer to explain than to use it. I keep 1/2, 3/8 & 1/4 bar stock on hand from 1-4" and the little 20V portaband make short work of lopping off a chunk. I was just hand marking, grinding and filing too much, which led to making the jig.

I haven't needed to do it yet but setting the fence at an angle simlarly makes it fast and easy to make precise angled parts. A lot of this is due to the recent dawning on me that setting a stop or fence using gage blocks is so much more accurate than measuring or using a built in scale. It was kinda a head-slapper what-took-me-so-long moment.

RMW

 

[Cheese]

Hey Richard...what diameter O-flute cutter and at what rpm?

The beautiful thing about that jig is you really don't have to worry about it moving precisely parallel to the disc because you're going to continue to grind until the hard stop contacts the front edge of the table which IS parallel to the disc.

I'm going to have to measure my Jet and see how parallel the front edge is to the platen surface. I need to change the abrasive disc anyways.

 

[rmwarren]

Hey Richard...what diameter O-flute cutter and at what rpm?

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] there is a major bout of yapping about Origin and AL over on the SO forum, short answer is:

3/16" O-Flute bit
Plunge 100
Auto speed 125
Speed ~3
(Auto) passes between 1.5 & 1.7 DOC

This is a place where AutoPass really shines, ramping into the cut mostly eliminates the tendency for the cutter to grab and jerk Origin around.

The beautiful thing about that jig is you really don't have to worry about it moving precisely parallel to the disc because you're going to continue to grind until the hard stop contacts the front edge of the table which IS parallel to the disc.

Exactly. Combined with setting the fence from the disk using a gage block it ensures a precise, parallel result. More and more I need to idiot-proof everything I do, lest I figure out a new & innovative way to dumb something.

RMW

 

[festal]

Hey Richard...what diameter O-flute cutter and at what rpm?

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] there is a major bout of yapping about Origin and AL over on the SO forum, short answer is:

3/16" O-Flute bit
Plunge 100
Auto speed 125
Speed ~3
(Auto) passes between 1.5 & 1.7 DOC

This is a place where AutoPass really shines, ramping into the cut mostly eliminates the tendency for the cutter to grab and jerk Origin around.

The beautiful thing about that jig is you really don't have to worry about it moving precisely parallel to the disc because you're going to continue to grind until the hard stop contacts the front edge of the table which IS parallel to the disc.

Exactly. Combined with setting the fence from the disk using a gage block it ensures a precise, parallel result. More and more I need to idiot-proof everything I do, lest I figure out a new & innovative way to dumb something.

RMW

1.5 thou doc?
What gage blocks are you using?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] there is a major bout of yapping about Origin and AL over on the SO forum, short answer is:

3/16" O-Flute bit
Plunge 100
Auto speed 125
Speed ~3
(Auto) passes between 1.5 & 1.7 DOC

This is a place where AutoPass really shines, ramping into the cut mostly eliminates the tendency for the cutter to grab and jerk Origin around.

Thanks for the SO thread  [thumbs up]  that's really interesting. I'd never have thought those little parts could be fabricated with a router...they seem squarely within the realm of milling machine work. Good job, I guess necessity is the mother of invention.  [big grin]

 

[Cheese]

1.5 thou doc?
What gage blocks are you using?

If I were to guess, it'd be a standard sized gauge block along with some feeler stock.

So setting to 18.1 mm would be an 18 mm block along with some .004" feeler gauge stock...just a guess.  [smile]