phill Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 ok so I've made 2 balisongs (butterfly knives) so far, which are much better than store bought I've been told, but I never can cut the grove in the handles as even and straight as I like. I only have basic tools like a pessicion mini lathe, pessicion drill press, angle grinder, and a dremel to work with. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get a straight, even, and centered groove in a 1/2" steel bar? thanx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Build a clamping block for the cross slide of the lathe and put a saw in the lathe. Alternately, if you have a quick change tool post, clam the material in the tool holder and chuck up an end mill. I guess I should have asked what size is the lathe? A lathe is a mill if you look at it sideways. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 wow I never looked at it like that thanx! my lathe is just a little 7"x10" mini lathe from harbor frieght but it does most of what I want. Awesome idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 That should be plenty big enough to do this. Other brands have a "milling attachment" which offers a much larger working envelope than the QCTP can. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 Build a clamping block for the cross slide of the lathe and put a saw in the lathe. Alternately, if you have a quick change tool post, clam the material in the tool holder and chuck up an end mill. I guess I should have asked what size is the lathe? A lathe is a mill if you look at it sideways. Phil well I just tried both ways. my lathe doesn't have enough power to be a mill, it keeps blowing fuses. sigh 2)it doesn't have any way to keep the chuck still while using a saw blade in the tool post. double sigh. so I got my sawsall out and put a new metal bit in it and tried that....well that's just scary but straighter than an angle grinder! lol Any other suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Steinkirchner Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 the way ive seen the most is sandwich construction. i could describe it but i'll just post a site Moderator note: url that was posted is no longer available. Source says link has been removed. We suggest posting information here when possible to prevent lost information like in this case Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fciron Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 well I just tried both ways. my lathe doesn't have enough power to be a mill, it keeps blowing fuses. sigh 2)it doesn't have any way to keep the chuck still while using a saw blade in the tool post. double sigh. so I got my sawsall out and put a new metal bit in it and tried that....well that's just scary but straighter than an angle grinder! lol Any other suggestions? I'm not sure how you ended up with a saw-blade in your tool post. Perhaps I shouldn't ask. Are you using a slitting saw blade in your lathe? (They are little circular-saw blades for metal.)I think Phil K was suggesting that the work be clamped to the carriage of the lathe (remove the tool post and compound slide) and then mount a small, metal-cutting sawblade on an arbor in the chuck of your lathe. In your lathe I would actually feed the work from the back of the lathe toward the front, so that the work is going against the rotation of the tool. Are you using cutting disks or grinding disks in your angle grinder? Cutting disks out to be able to do a fairly neat job of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 You remove the tool post but need the cross slide to feed the work in. The cutting tool gets chucked up in the lathe jaw and the part goes on the cross slide. It really is sideways thinking. If your feed is appropriate then your tool should cut fine. I'll look for some links that show pictures. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 http://www.youtube.c...h?v=0ezBRVu61_I This shows a fella using a milling attachment on his lathe. This is an elaborate vise or clamping plate that is highly adjustable (and not needed, but nice) The same end result can be had with shims and clamping blocks on a flat plate. If the part fits in the quick change tool post tool holder then you have a jig pre-built - just shim or adjust to position. If you lack a QCTP then put a plate on the cross slide, and then shim up to the part off the plate and clamp the part to the plate. This is annoying because of the shimming, but it works fine. This one is using his QCTP as a part vise. He is milling the end, but you can mill the face the same way. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 http://www.astronomi...sh/tmilling.htm here is something else. I scanned through this, so it may read a little different that I think, but it seems to explain different milling operations on a lathe. The image titles "flycutting a large casting" is very helpful in my point of a clamping plate. (I think I am using the wrong word here for "clamping plate", so sorry) Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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