tubing bender die Manufacturing

[Kurt98]

I am building a tubing bender at my vocational school. The die I need to make has a .625 radius that is revolved 120 degrees on a 5 in radius. We have a Hass 3 axis vertical milling machine. Is it possible to use 1/2in. ball mill to cut my profile. We use master cam to set our toolpaths. Any suggestions on setting the toolpaths would help my project. Thank you

 

[samplesecond]

if you have a turntable, or 4th axis, you can use a .625" ball nose end mill, and cut the groove radially

 

[jck26]

This is a lathe project, plunge the radius with a form tool that you can easily make,then turn this as a whole disk and cut / mill out the sector you need. As a turned surface you will be able to get a smooth finish in the radius.


jck26

 

[btrueblood]

Agree with jck, also - keep any unused parts of the disk that are large enough as "spares".

 

[Kurt98]

The reason I do not want to use the lathe is because i will have to purchase a bigger piece of material.

 

[griffengm]

Could still be done on a lathe but adapt cutting technique to allow for interupted cut.


Griffy

 

[MikeHalloran]

To answer your original question, yes, it is possible to mill that groove in the edge of a vertical blank with a 3 axis mill, and generate the required radius with a smaller cutter.

How to do it should be in your Mastercam textbook.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[hscott]

Also needing to fab some tube bending dies...

I made a ring roller a while back that I'd now like to use to bend some 3/4" to 1" dia. aluminum tubing and possibly some copper and conduit. So I need to make another set of roller dies that have "circular" groves matching the tube diameter.

Can someone please tell me the best method for cutting this "circular" grove using my 9x20 lathe? My lathe tool post is limited to 1/2" x 1/2" tooling blanks, so I'm not sure what is the best way to make and mount a cutting tool that will be large enough to turn the needed grove diameter.

Am hoping someone can tell me how to make the tool and/or jig that will fit my tooling post.

Thanks

Scott

 

[MikeHalloran]

That lathe probably doesn't have enough motor or enough iron to run a form tool that big in steel. So, use a pointy tool that it _can_ handle, and _generate_ the radius.

It's possible to spend a lot more, but I swear I bought a ball- turning attachment for less than $200 a couple of years ago, probably from MSC, maybe from McMaster.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Kurt98]

I finally cut my die and to answer my own question I could do it on a 3 axis milling machine. The die finish is not so bad and with a little polishing it will look great.