Machining Garolite 1

[66chevelle]

Does anyone have any tips on machining Garolite? Specifically G10/ FR4 . Will have to tap 6-32 - Also need to machine to size on 1" thick. I realize carbide is a must at minimum, and am wondering about diamond tooling, and also coolants and tapping fluids. All info greatly appreciated.

 

[Eltron]

I've machined plenty of G10 in the past, and I've tried a bunch of different tooling setups. The stuff just eats up tools. Carbide tools seem to work fine. It isn't hard to get a good finish if you use Kool Tool or mineral oil as the cutting fluid. G10 puts off an aweful formaldehyde smell, too. So be sure to have adequate ventilation available. You also won't get good chips. You kind of end up with a pile of wet powder all over everything.
Hope that helps.

 

[cadcnc]

Use a mask!!! G 10 gets into the lungs and doesn’t come out!! Also use a vacuum to remove the dust; it’s very hard on machines!

 

[icd625]

If you are doing any cutting of garolite other than tapping, consider having the parts cut on a water cutting machine. We recently did a job that required a number of parts to be cut out of sheets of garolite. We had a local shop with a water cutting machine cut the pieces out of the sheet. They cut garolite extremely fast and for only a few dollars per piece. They were also able to cut through holes as well.