Maching Very Thin Wall Tube

[Historian]

Long forgotten technique I once saw long ago ... and forgot .. in a machine shop
with no computer controlled lathes. It should be
passed on for new smiths to have in their quiver.

<< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXq_HfwG7dA >>

[Capt. Link.]

Long forgotten technique I once saw long ago ... and forgot .. in a machine shop
with no computer controlled lathes. It should be
passed on for new smiths to have in their quiver.

<< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXq_HfwG7dA >>

Nice video,perfect for Sterling air displacement piston construction or hand made precision tubing.
CL

[ECCO Machine]

You have to really know your equipment to pull that kind of operation off. Doing that with a polymer rod is one thing, quite another with material that will deflect cutters or cause a heavy cut to dig deeper than the light one you set your number to.

[doubloon]

Are you saying you wouldn't try it or are you trying to discourage others from trying it?

[ECCO Machine]

Are you saying you wouldn't try it or are you trying to discourage others from trying it?

I have done it, and would certainly encourage others to give it a try. But don't do it with a part that really matters until you know how your machine and the material will behave. Making a 7075-T651 aluminum .010" wall sleeve/bushing? Pretty easy. Doing it with 4140 or 6/4 Ti? Whole 'nother animal. Those tougher materials will deflect your boring bar on the inside, and trying to take a heavy cut on the OD tends to make the cutter bite deeper than what you set the dial to after running up to the number gently. Not to mention galling/tearing and chatter.

Anyone who has spent any time running machines knows how different the results can be from one machine to the next, and on the same machine with different materials, materials of differing temper, different cutter profiles, depths of cut, feed rate, rake, relief, directions of cut, climb vs. conventional, height above/below center, etc., etc.

One thing that can absolutely be counted on is that a cut, be it lathe or mill operation, will never add up to exactly the numbers in the real world that it does in the theoretical world (where engineers live & work).

Joe does the community a service, for sure, but he tends to leave out important details like that.

[joe0121]

Thank you. Just dealt with this recently.

[carcrusher]

AND, never trust a DRO when you're down to those .0005's in TI.