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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Posts
    3

    machining plastic

    Anyone have an idea on chip control while machining Delrin? Part has 3" plus turned length and we are doing on Citizen. Birdnest of chips has been nearly impossible to clear out. Ideas please.
    Thank you,
    Mike

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    406
    You can pull the material away from the part while its cutting like pulling a string. Make sure you dont wrap it around your fingers
    just grab the end as it starts cutting and pull it away above the cutter if you can so it doesnt start to wrap around the part.

  3. #3
    You can pulse the feed and get the chip to break.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    638
    Plastic on a swiss. I've only done it a few times in the past (previous job).
    I seem to recall moving the tool away in X, moving the part out in Z to get the chips further into the work area, moving back down to close to the X, and then feeding fast in Z to push the ball of chips off.
    Worth a try?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    638
    Oh yeah, I forgot. Aim one or more of the coolant nozzles to try to get the chips off. We did that too.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Posts
    16

    Plastic Chips

    Peck so the strings break, and use lots of air rather than coolant.

    Strings are just going to bind, get hot, and make an ugly hole.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    1468
    I read a good reply to a similar thread the other day (I think the poster was HuFlung)- he had the neat idea of putting a slot down the whole length of the bar- that way the string can't form cos it always gets broken as you cut past the slot.Neat idea, but haven't tried myself yet.
    I love deadlines- I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    1863

    Need Help!- machining plastic

    There was an article in the June issue of Modern Machine Shop about this very thing. The people in the article used high perssure coolant to blow the chips away.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    479
    Delrin (Acetal) should break fairly easy, the faster you feed it, the easier it should chip. I machine Delrin on a daily basis using a Kennametal WNGP-K insert.

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