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Old May 8th 05, 09:32 PM
Andrew Werby
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"norwick" wrote in message
...
I need to cut a spiral onto a silver rod.
The sides of the cut can be at 90 degrees/and/or inclined. I envisage
this to be done by a lathe (milling machine?).
Diameter of rod could be 10-15mm,
spacing between edge of the next groove ca 3mm,
groove width & depth ca 2mm (ideally there should be some scope for
visual considerations).
Non electric system would be acceptable (or very slow speed lathe),
machine size should not be more than 1m, weight under 50kg.
Cost should not be more than $1000-1500, but this assumes that it can
be used for other applications, eg cutting tool steel etc.


[You could do this on a miniature CNC milling machine (like the Taig mills I
sell) equipped with a rotary table, chuck, and tailstock. You'd need to
program the toolpath to advance the tool along the X (long) axis while
rotating the A axis (the rotary table) so that the grooves were properly
spaced. A ball-end tool would give you a round-bottomed groove; a regular
endmill would give a flat-bottomed groove. The weight and size of this
machine would be about what you're asking for above, but the price would be
higher - about $3k, with the accessories you'd need. These machines can be
used for many other things, but for best results with tool steel anneal it
first, and use carbide cutters.]

I once owned a wood lathe (used it a couple of times only) & have used
a larger metal lathe under supervision for spinning.
Metal lathe users sites are so full of intalk that it is difficult for
a novice to decipher the essential info.
Any suggestions?

[You might be able to find a used metal lathe with thread-cutting abilities,
but they usually are limited by their gearing to producing standard threads;
you can't just pull numbers out of the air and expect the lathe to be able
to make threads to your arbitrary specifications. They are also generally
much larger and heavier than you specify, although there are some
intermediate-sized lathes made that have threading abilities(see
http://www.mini-lathe.com/ ).]

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com



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