Cutting narrow blind slits in aluminum

[mhradford]

Hi,

How are narrow blind slits typically cut in aluminum, such as those found in beam couplings? (ie

http://www.ruland.com/ps_couplings_flexible.asp).

What are the general guidelines for these types of features in terms of ratio of width to depth, achieveable tolerances, etc?

Thanks in advance,

Mark

 

[TVP]

Abrasive cut-off saw using lots of liquid coolant. Possibly a band saw optimized for aluminum parts. Achievable tolerance for length of cut is + 0.13 mm, but probably more like + 0.25 mm. Abrasive supplier like Norton would be best source for guidelines on w:d ratio.

 

[ornerynorsk]

Small high speed steel jewelers saws are going to give a much better result than abrasive disks.

You can run the depth all the way to the mandrel, just don't get crazy with feed, and yes, you need lots of coolant, pressurized is preferred. If you start to recut chips or get chips sticking to the saw teeth, things will go downhill very quickly. Run your coolant concentrate at about 1-1/2 times to double of recommended for operations like this.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[fastline12]

Agree with above. It has been out experience that chips want to pack in the saws and require higher pressure coolant in the right spot to unpack any chips. Also plan the pass carefully to get chips out best. We had a problem in stainless with this and reversed to conventional cut and got much better results. The cut edge spends much more time in the cut and needs clearance.

I agree also with coolant concentration. It is a HUGE deal for some operations. We chased a tapping issue in Al and fixed it with a higher ratio.