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Saturday, June 29, 2019

Source for 1/2" Wide .050" to .100" Inch Thick Steel?

I am trying to make the legs for the spider.  0.022" aluminum bends both in the mill vise and when the mill reaches the surface.  (I need to punch 1/4" diameter holes in one end of a 4" long piece.)  I can use steel instead--there is not much weight, and even .1" thick would not cause severe diffraction spikes.  The extra stiffness would help.  One proposal that I have seen is to use hacksaw blades, but they flex when I try to mill the round ends off, and they resist plunge milling very well.  So where might I find mild steel that is 1/2" wide and .1" thick.  Some utterly different use that I can use for this purpose.
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5 comments:

  1. FidelJune 30, 2019 at 9:35 AM

    12 gauge steel?

    Maybe steel banding? Or steel sheet, and cut the strips out?

    ReplyDelete
  2. KCSteveJune 30, 2019 at 10:06 AM

    Home Depot and Lowes both carry mild steel sheets. Much larger pieces than you need, but still not terribly expensive.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Clayton CramerJune 30, 2019 at 2:52 PM

    Sheets require cutting to a precision that my rough tools do not support, and milling rough cuts to size is harder than it should be. There is .5" flat bar available, and I suspect my local metal store will have it---tomorrow.

    Good suggestions, however.

    ReplyDelete
  4. James GibsonJune 30, 2019 at 8:10 PM

    when do I hear of you buying a used drop hammer.

    ReplyDelete
  5. WillJuly 1, 2019 at 3:15 AM

    Consider using a sheet metal nibbler to cut to size. They can make fairly clean cuts. Two versions, one air powered, typically used in autobody work, and the latest is powered by a drill motor.

    Just got one that I ordered from the web (china), after watching u-tube videos of it cutting various materials. Specs say it can cut 1.8mm steel, 1.2mm stainless, max throat is 2.0mm.
    Double-headed cutter, model# YT-160A

    Haven't tried it yet. Think it was about $30

    ReplyDelete