Re: Cutting stainless media

The trick to cutting / machining stainless in general is heavy pressure and
a deep cut.  The material work hardens easily, so light pressure / feeds
just makes a hardened skin, leading to cursing and hair pulling.  You can
try hand drilling stainless all day and go through several bits trying, or
you can apply a good bit of force (with a drill press, preferrably) and go
right through it surprisingly easily.  It follows that, if you need to
make
repeated cuts, like to clear swarf from the drill flutes, you don't want
to
let off the pressure slowly.  If you need to make light cuts, sharp
tooling
is definitely in order.

Or you can blast the **** out of it with fire or plasma, fair enough.

Tim

--
Deep Fryer: A very philosophical monk.
Website @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

"Scott H" <greybard1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:IbGdnfsVvLEfzJLVnZ2dnUVZ_s-pnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> I've been wanting to make a load of stainless media for a while, and
I've
> got some 1/2" & 3/4" stock coming soon. Right now I'm exploring ways to
cut
> it up. Lloyd suggested a band saw with a good cooling system. The
following
> link shows some 1/2" Rockwell 60 rod a buddy cut with a small handheld
> plasma cutter. Not stainless, just sort of a test. (I had a cutoff piece
> laying around, so what the heck...)
>
> http://pyrobin.com/files/testcutr60-1a.jpg
>
> The cuts are very rough LOL (a little long, too) and the pieces have
been
> slightly deburred with a grinder. The discoloration that extends up the
rod
> is what I'm wondering about. That's from the plasma cutter, not the
grinder.
> I realize this steel is harder than 304 stianless, but I'm sure the 304
will
> be simalarly discolored when cut. Is this a problem, ie: is the plasma
> cutter too hot? Maybe they can be polished?
>
> I'm thinking a band saw would be better, but since I don't have access
to
a
> good one, I'm considering the plasma cutter. I just don't want to spend
> $150+ and realize I f****d it up... :0
>
> -Scott
>
>