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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    27

    Default Sourcing Bright Flat Steel Bar

    Hi,

    I have a small project underway to fit a new QCTP to my lathe, where I need some 120 x 15mm (approx) flat bar about 300mm length, all I have managed to obtain in Melbourne is flat black hot rolled steel with that hard crust on it, I have milled that off but the finish is not great.

    Does anyone know where in Melbourne to get small lengths of bright in those approximate dimensions

    Thanks..

    Eric

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Victoria, Australia
    Age
    74
    Posts
    5,080

    Default

    What about Interlloy http://www.interlloy.com.au/

    They have S1214 http://www.interlloy.com.au/our-products/bright-steels/

    Not sure about minimum orders, you might scout out local engineering businesses and ask for a look in their scrap bin.

    Ray

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    blackburn vic
    Posts
    297

    Default Steel Supplies

    Try Rimsteel in Braeside. They will cut to length for you.

    Roger

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Melbourne Australia
    Posts
    1,376

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ericg View Post
    I have milled that off but the finish is not great.
    Provided it doesn't need to be done by tommorow, I could grind what you all ready have. Bright wont nessesarily be flat anyway.

    I'm in Thomastown, its a 6 pack job.

    Regards Phil.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    9,088

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Machtool View Post
    its a 6 pack job.
    I'll scrape it flat for a slab

    Stuart

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    near Warragul, Victoria
    Posts
    3,718

    Default steel

    Eric

    This business will have what you need

    http://www.ian-stansfield-smith.com.au/

    The 1214 resulphurized free machining stock has a pink colour code

    The 12L14 leaded stock has a purple colour code

    They have it in round square and other shapes

    Mike

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    27

    Default

    Thanks for the feedback everyone,

    I will be ringing around each of those companies to see what they offer.

    I am just learning this game myself so prefer to learn the hard way by doing it myself, thanks anyway.

    However... the face mill I was using is a 64mm dia 4 insert hss cutter that came with the Titan TM250v mill I receintly bought, it kept jamming during the cut, so I'm probably not using it correctly.

    What I did do however was to remove 3 of the 4 cutters and use it as a fly cutter and that was a vast improvement in finish and speed & feed.

    Now I just need to learn more about speeds feeds sfm etc, cannot seem to get it to sink in.

    Eric

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Norwood-ish, Adelaide
    Age
    59
    Posts
    6,541

    Default Speeds

    The easy questions at last!

    Cutting speed (rpm) = (300 x material surface speed )/diameter

    Diameter is the diameter that the cutting is taking place - either the diameter of the part on the lathe or the diameter of the cutter on a mill or the bit diameter in a drill press.
    Material surface speed varies by material. For normal steel it is 30m/min, Al, brass, thermo plastics is around 90m/min, tool steel, cast iron, S/S, bronze around 15m/min

    I normally use it by saying rpm= 9000/Diameter and then multiplying by 1/2 or 3 or what ever depending on material. I find that easier to remember.

    This is the formula for HSS - carbide has higher surface speeds (normally in the catalogue). Again, I normally just multiply by 4 or so.

    The surface speed numbers have been worked out empirically so you will see some variation in reference books for this figure. They are based on maximum tool life for best metal removal rate in an industrial setting. Go faster and you will be sharpening tools a lot more often, slower is fine although you may not get as good a finish on some things.

    Industrially, feeds are as fast as you can get away with for surface finish and machine power. In a home workshop it becomes what you are comfortable with.

    With respect to your multi tip cutter, check the sharpness of the tips and that they are all set the same distance from the body. Depending on the power of the mill, you may not be able to manage much in the way of depth of cut (DOC). Some times it is a matter of getting a lump of material and experimenting. For a mill with 10's of hp you would could be talking multiple mm, for a fractional hp machine it may stall with say 0.2mm DOC.

    Michael

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