Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

[Dave_Johnson]

I would also like to see more information about this propane burner.

Dave J.

[Pipescs]

Actual time to punch in the x-y coordinates was less than two minutes for the 8 points making up the two squares.

The enhancement ont this project was that I could jump from point to point on the DRO and make passes between holes to cut down thru the material. It also simplified the numbers in that once I started it was simply dialing down to 0.0000 to the center of each hole.

Am I wrong in that I am making multiple passes to cut the slots. Can I cut the 3/8" plate in one pass and get a straighter line?

I do believe you are right on the act of just drilling holes. It would be just as simple to dial over to each hole.

[mjahn]

Can I cut the 3/8" plate in one pass and get a straighter line?

Not unless you have a much larger mill...

[Fender]

Charlie,
I think a 3/8 depth of cut would be too much for your 1/4" end mill. Probably 1/2 of the diameter (.125) would be OK, or use a larger diameter end mill. One advantage of drilling holes before milling (besides removing a lot of metal pretty fast) is that it gives the chips someplace to go, rather than having them be recut in the slot. The way I would do this would be to drill some holes, then rough out the opening with a rougher, then make a finish pass (.010) with a four-flute e.m., climb milling.

[mjahn]

Ya, hog it with a rougher. Wouldn't like making that deep of a climb on a .010" but something in the neighborhood of .003". (if I'm zig-zagging back and forth, going down like .020", I'll take .010" climbs with no problem and a beautiful finish.) You can hog with as big of an end mill you can fit in there then come back and clean out the corners with the .25" finisher. The bigger end mills will take more abuse anyway.

[kvom]

Charlie,
I think a 3/8 depth of cut would be too much for your 1/4" end mill. Probably 1/2 of the diameter (.125) would be OK, or use a larger diameter end mill. One advantage of drilling holes before milling (besides removing a lot of metal pretty fast) is that it gives the chips someplace to go, rather than having them be recut in the slot. The way I would do this would be to drill some holes, then rough out the opening with a rougher, then make a finish pass (.010) with a four-flute e.m., climb milling.

X2

Drilling has a faster material removal rate than milling, and since the tool pressure is straight down it's easier on the spindle.

[Pipescs]

Still making parts and mistakes as my learning curve continues to grow. I am going to start on the two side plates and drilling and tapping the holes in the front and back plate sides.

The side plates have radius on both the front and back edges. Only cosmetic and it will give me a chance to use the radius funtion on the DRO.

[mjahn]

Very Cool! How are you planning on making the diagonal cuts?

[Pipescs]

The plan is to drill the four corner holes and the large radius at the top. Then shift the part to the angle using the DRO as it has an angle reset capability. You can see it on their web site videos.

Not getting too wrapped around the axle on it as to be honest I have redrawn the part in the areas of the radius to make it easer to cut the part. No bad bad feelings here as all these parts are cosmetic.

Still learning though. Made a cut tonight and it was slightly off. I had trusted that the 0,0 was the same after I cut the mill off and came back to it. Luckily all is fixable and I have learned to recheck my indexing before each cut.

[tailshaft56]

The plan is to drill the four corner holes and the large radius at the top. Then shift the part to the angle using the DRO as it has an angle reset capability. You can see it on their web site videos.

Not getting too wrapped around the axle on it as to be honest I have redrawn the part in the areas of the radius to make it easer to cut the part. No bad bad feelings here as all these parts are cosmetic.

Still learning though. Made a cut tonight and it was slightly off. I had trusted that the 0,0 was the same after I cut the mill off and came back to it. Luckily all is fixable and I have learned to recheck my indexing before each cut.

Sounds like your table was moved while the dro was turned off. There is a function a function to rezero the table. Each scale has an index in the center that the dro can sense to regain postion.

[GlennW]

Zero the dials at 0,0 and you will have a quick reference to check the DRO...

[Pipescs]

I am sure that is what happened. Luckily it did not have a big impact on the part.

I am off to Maryland for a week to work and then straight out to Washington to visit my daughter and then straight back to maryland. Be gone a round a month all together

Will be working on drawings in the hotels.