nylatron machining

[scottmaha]

i would like some tips on the best best way to control chips during the cnc turning of nylatron gsm tube. we have a gantry loader on our lathe and would like to use it for the production of these parts. however, the chips wrap around everything and make it difficult to automatically exchange the parts. we have looked at putting the parts in nitrogen to make them brittle so that the chips will break and not string, but that is not feasible since we would like to gantry load the parts. also, we have taken many steps to change feeds, speeds, and tool geometries to aid in the chip breaking process but to no avail. the only other thing i can think of is to "peck" turn. that is, take intermitent dwells to stop the flow of the stringy chip. any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Like2Strike]

You are on the right track with "Peck Feed".
The Nylon material is very strong and wants to stay together. Thats why they make rope out of the material. The MolyBdenum impregnated in the Nylon is not helping your situation either. I sell a lot of Nylatron and the best way to macine the material thus far has been to peck off the heavy cuts and then take a nice even finish cut.

The other option is; if you are just taking a surface cut to true up the surface. You could afix a second cutting tool in the tool post that is offset to cut the chips. This of course depends on your geometry you are cutting.

Live Aloha