[skmetal7]

I have a few parts that I want to make, or have made. It's a reed cut out of .005" shim stock. I would like the edges to be very smooth. EDM? Laser cut? Waterjet? There is a very small radius (.005") that I'm concerned about, and wondering if a laser beam can go that small, or a jet of water.

[tobyaxis]

I have a few parts that I want to make, or have made. It's a reed cut out of .005" shim stock. I would like the edges to be very smooth. EDM? Laser cut? Waterjet? There is a very small radius (.005") that I'm concerned about, and wondering if a laser beam can go that small, or a jet of water.

I have no experience with Water Jet, EDM, or Lasers but am interested in the suggestions that you will get. This should make for an educational read.

Sorry I couldn't help.

[laka]

As far as Water Jet, the smallest nozzle size i've seen is 0.020" diameter

[Geof]

EDM. I have never used it but from what I have read this would likely be the only method.

Water jet cannot go small enough.

With laser the piercing action would would leave a rough spot.

With EDM the electrode is machined to the precise shape that you need and the cut comes out minimally larger.

Your check book will need to be in a good state of health.

[tobyaxis]

EDM. I have never used it but from what I have read this would likely be the only method.

Water jet cannot go small enough.

With laser the piercing action would would leave a rough spot.

With EDM the electrode is machined to the precise shape that you need and the cut comes out minimally larger.

Your check book will need to be in a good state of health.

That sounds like it would be expensive to have an electrode made from Graphite.

[yoopertool]

Am I correct to say that the three blue U shaped things on your drawing are flaps for the reed? If those are flaps then I dont know of anything other than a wire EDM which will leave you a nice finish and hold your tolerances. The only snag associated with a wire EDM is that you need to have a hole already in the piece for the wire to feed through and it would have to be larger than the wire. Common EDM wire has a diameter between .008 - .014. You may be able to find someone with smaller wire. There are several companies that make very small drill bits that you could use for starter holes such as this one:

http://www.minitoolinc.com/microdrillingandpunching.htm

EDM time is not cheap, but those parts are very thin and would cut extremely fast. You would just have to supply them with material that already has the starter holes in it. Good Luck!

[tobyaxis]

This is getting very interesting. I wonder if it would be possible to Stamp these parts with a Die. Is this possible??

[skmetal7]

thanks for all the responses!

I was thinking about stamping them but I don't even want to think about the price of a die being made, and I only need 2 of each.

I could possible make the radius larger, let me take a look

[yoopertool]

You could find a way to stamp it, but you probably wont get the nice finish that is desired. Also, you wouldnt be able to get the gap needed for the reeds unless a complicated or 2-stage die was made. If this was a mass production job, then stamping could be considered, but not with only a few pieces.

[skmetal7]

Am I correct to say that the three blue U shaped things on your drawing are flaps for the reed? If those are flaps then I dont know of anything other than a wire EDM which will leave you a nice finish and hold your tolerances. The only snag associated with a wire EDM is that you need to have a hole already in the piece for the wire to feed through and it would have to be larger than the wire. Common EDM wire has a diameter between .008 - .014. You may be able to find someone with smaller wire. There are several companies that make very small drill bits that you could use for starter holes such as this one:

http://www.minitoolinc.com/microdrillingandpunching.htm

EDM time is not cheap, but those parts are very thin and would cut extremely fast. You would just have to supply them with material that already has the starter holes in it. Good Luck!

yes those are the flaps, and I'm not sure how drilling .005" shim stock would work, sheet metal sucks to drill to begin with.

I made the radius now .01", so the width of the "u" shape groove is now .02". Is that a more standard size? it can still go a bit larger, but I want to leave room for tolerances.

can you drill down with wire edm? If I went with a laser cut edge how rough would that edge be?

I'm playing with a .004" feeler gauge here with me and thinking about how thin this is gonna be.

[Skeeterd5150]

I was thinking. This might sound really dumb but what if you lay it out with a hand scribe and keep going over the lines with it. I mean when you scribe something you are actually cutting it. So you really don't have very far to go down before you get to the other side. .005 isn't very much.

[bigbunny5]

I may be reading that Scrrenshot wrong, but if you are only talking about .005 thick parts have you thought about using an Electro Chem Etching Processes?

[Pressfit]

The 3 reed flaps would be the most difficult to do but not impossible if you make a punch and die. For just a few parts it would'nt have to be too elaborate.

The outside and holes are the easy part with two aluminum plates acting as not only fixtures, but to make it as a stiffer and thicker solid. Sandwich the shims between the two plates. One bolted to the table predrilled with tapped holes to transfer holding to the inside then mill the outside.

[skmetal7]

I may be reading that Scrrenshot wrong, but if you are only talking about .005 thick parts have you thought about using an Electro Chem Etching Processes?

yeah i was thinking of doing that too. i found this pdf http://aardvark.co.nz/pjet/makevalves1.pdf and maybe ill try this. i need to find a battery though. i just wonder how difficult it would be too try and scribe the flaps. does it matter what material i use for this? i wonder if i could print the pattern onto a piece of springsteel...like circuit board etching...

[bigbunny5]

yeah i was thinking of doing that too. i found this pdf http://aardvark.co.nz/pjet/makevalves1.pdf and maybe ill try this. i need to find a battery though. i just wonder how difficult it would be too try and scribe the flaps. does it matter what material i use for this? i wonder if i could print the pattern onto a piece of springsteel...like circuit board etching...

Check this guy's site out. he found a cheep and Readily available electrolyte. Just jimmy off the battery our of your car or find the ubiquities "BRO WITH A BATTERY CHARGER".Also look at this guy's site to read up on the laser toner method of putting resist to metal. when I do it I use the ELCHEEPO paper, it works better. and since it's $100 to put new toaner in my printer, I just take take the paper down to the public library to print my resists. I do it with .025 spring steel a bunch for one off Slot Car Chassis parts.

[fedragon]

punch press would be the way to go. I agree with it needing to be a progressive die. punch/progressive dies can become rather expensive, cost of shoe plates, the requirement of die components, multple stages are not worth the investment, unless you anticipate running large quantities to recoup your money.

[lerman]

google metal etch

http://www.photofabrication.com/

Ken

[SORCHEROR]

wire edm them and to keep the cost down stack many of them on top of each other,like 50 at a time,that will keep the cost each down,if you need alot of them that is

[bigbunny5]

wire edm them and to keep the cost down stack many of them on top of each other,like 50 at a time,that will keep the cost each down,if you need alot of them that is

The problem with EDM is once you stack a few, it's all up to how good the table is! I use to EDM lots of parts before laser cutting became reasonable, and after you stack more than 2-3 the top of the stack will always be different than bottom, EDM so sloppy My past dealings with EDM have been that EDM is good for expensive rough cut parts

[SORCHEROR]

not with wire edm,the top is same as the bottom if your guides are aligned correctly,we just wired over 4 inches with less than 5 tenths difference,maybe in the past you used older machines,also helps to have a submersable wire edm for good flushing