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Tips/Techniques Cutting High Strength Steel Forging
- Thread starter Susquatch
- Start date
Tips/Techniques
Not sure what
What kinda Canadian boy are you, but ya, I hear ya....
Ya. Didn't play hockey on the farm when I was a boy. Didn't encounter hockey till highschool and already had a bad taste in my mouth over team sports. I grew up with the idea that people either played together or fought with each other. The idea of fighting and playing at the same time made no sense to me - it still doesn't.
So I don't play or follow sports. But I understand those that do.
@mbond - sorry, I was predisposed to think of leafs as copper flower petals because of the recent thread on that.
I ordered one of these. It's a 1 inch indexable insert drill. I'll just substitute this for the bandsaw blade I trashed on my invoice.
https://a.co/d/h4mbUVi
I want to see how this performs on the leftover piece of that drawbar forging. Even for regular steel, this would get me to a boring bar hole size in one go if it works.
Be nice if they had something like this in 1/2" and 3/4" sizes too.
Planning to try making a video of the lowspeed high pressure machining operations too. The challenge will be operating the camera at the same time as manually operating the milling machine.
Also looking for boring head boring bars with indexable inserts in 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4. I dislike brazed carbide. Any suggestions?
https://a.co/d/h4mbUVi
I want to see how this performs on the leftover piece of that drawbar forging. Even for regular steel, this would get me to a boring bar hole size in one go if it works.
Be nice if they had something like this in 1/2" and 3/4" sizes too.
Planning to try making a video of the lowspeed high pressure machining operations too. The challenge will be operating the camera at the same time as manually operating the milling machine.
Also looking for boring head boring bars with indexable inserts in 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4. I dislike brazed carbide. Any suggestions?
I followed this thread with interest because I knew that you were taking on some tough stuff, and wanted to see what worked. Good job,Sus, !
Just one thing needs to be cleared up. You asked what are leafs? So, for those who might not know : the Leafs are a semi-pro hockey team that plays out of Toronto. They play in the same league as Pro teams such as the Edmonton oilers. If you need any further explanation Google will help. Glad I could make a contribution to the thread.
By the way, lots of really good info from the guys too!
Just one thing needs to be cleared up. You asked what are leafs? So, for those who might not know : the Leafs are a semi-pro hockey team that plays out of Toronto. They play in the same league as Pro teams such as the Edmonton oilers. If you need any further explanation Google will help. Glad I could make a contribution to the thread.
By the way, lots of really good info from the guys too!
I looked for the same thing and on a day when I needed one for a job, I made an adapter to size up a boring bar from my lathe to fit the larger boring head bore. You can see it here from when I was making the swarf separator for my shop vac:
The boring bar is retained by a couple of set screws.
D
140mower
Don
I bought these 1/2" ones from Accusize on Amazon. Maybe you can be the first to try our discount.....
Have you used them yet?
I'm having trouble trying to see how a triangular insert would bore a good hole. The feed rate would have to be very low. Depth of cut might be ok though.
Already did. A set of those external threading inserts that @thestelster found is arriving tomorrow. The discount equalled the shipping.
140mower
Don
I have not tried them in the boring head yet, but I thought they worked pretty good when I used one on the lathe.......
I actually have a few tools that I haven't used yet, but damn it, there will be a day!!! Lol 
I have not tried them in the boring head yet, but I thought they worked pretty good when I used one on the lathe.......
I have zero problem seeing how they work on a lathe. Although I personally prefer Trigon. My difficulty is seeing how they would work on a boring bar.
140mower
Don
It must be early for me..... But I can't see the difference in how they should work. The metal doesn't know which method is cutting it, as long as the speed and feed is right, shouldn't the finish be the same? ....... This is where my lack of experience comes into play.
I have watched a ton of sports over the years, baseball, hockey and soccer ..... but I always had a kid on the team
. Other than that, I'm with you, little interest in it. I used to, but then life got busier, time was at a premium and it just struck me one day, how does this at all matter to me?Aside from the whole commercial culture of filling the QA sheet with whatever the market wants to hear (that is very real, I'd say the norm vs the exception), there is also a different grading system of steels in China. When fabricating there, you can get north American grades (higher tensile strength generally) but its the same price as here. A group I used to work with making rides there for various markets (for the highest end parks, one starts with "D" and the other "U") and they must ensure the correct grades are used..... but its not cheap. Same price for the steel, then you need engineers on the ground sending coupons off for testing etc.
I agree with your statement 100%, Don. I use the 3/4” shank version of those in my boring head on the mill very often. They work really well and leave a very good finish.It must be early for me..... But I can't see the difference in how they should work. The metal doesn't know which method is cutting it, as long as the speed and feed is right, shouldn't the finish be the same? ....... This is where my lack of experience comes into play.
Disclaimer: I did switch out the supplied inserts with ISCAR branded ones for better tool life and material compatibility (I have them for SS and Tool steel). The supplied ones worked, just did not stand up nearly as well as the ISCAR ones do.
It must be early for me..... But I can't see the difference in how they should work. The metal doesn't know which method is cutting it, as long as the speed and feed is right, shouldn't the finish be the same? ....... This is where my lack of experience comes into play.
You talk about your lack of experience, but I'm no different. I'm still relatively new to using inserts, and trying to learn as fast as I can.
So I tend to think about using inserts from the perspective of HSS. I like a good nose radius and a shallow end relief. This results in a tool that will cut well, leave a nice finish at a wide range of feed rates, and be fairly durable too.
Maybe that's also why I prefer Trigon inserts. They have a long cutting edge on both sides of the nose.
Yes, a good radius on the nose would explain a lot of things.
I thought we WERE talking about a boring head on a mill.... LOL!
140mower
Don
That's what I bought them for, I just haven't found a need to bore anything on the mill yet, but they were perfect for a little boring job I did on the lathe recently.
Ironman
Ultra Member
NA, they are parts of a spring assembly on a pickup truck. Haven't you had a broken leaf on that rusty old ford you're fixin'?Those Leafs can also be identified by the way they fall off the playoff tree.......
Well, if they work on the lathe, they will work down the hole on a mill.
Look at it this way. They are exactly the same cutting conditions in both cases. The difference is the lathe turns the work, and the tool is held in place, while the mill turns the tool, while the work is held in place! Simple, no?
Well, if they work on the lathe, they will work down the hole on a mill.
Look at it this way. They are exactly the same cutting conditions in both cases. The difference is the lathe turns the work, and the tool is held in place, while the mill turns the tool, while the work is held in place! Simple, no?
Yes, that's always been what I tell most people. The difference is only whether the machine turns or the work turns.
That isn't remotely what I struggled with (I have one now but I have not tried it.)
What I struggle with is the idea of two edges of two inserts simultaneously cutting.
It's one thing to run a Trigon insert down a bore expanding the bore by a depth of cut just like it would on a boring bar on the lathe. It's quite another thing to put two Trigons together tip to tip but backwards to each other and then expect the entire full length of both inserts to cut the entire 1" hole out in one go! This I struggle with!
It's like putting a Trigon insert onto a cutting tool SIDEWAYS and then doing a turning cut that has a 1/2" depth of cut! Then as if that isn't bad enough, add another one right behind it on the other side for a 1" depth of cut.
To be more realistic it's like using a 1" two Flute endmill to do plunge cuts but replace the flutes with the full diameter of two big trigon inserts.
Ya, I know - why would anyone do something so stupid...... LOL! And that is my question too.
But remember that this is all about drilling a forged steel drawbar by using extreme pressure on Carbide inserts and very low speed. It a whole new realm of machining for me.