30 Degree Endmill ???

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umahunter

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I'm going to make a bending brake for my harborfreight 20 ton shop press I would like to make a top die with a with a 60 degree angle to be able to bend past 90 degrees I have a jet mill /drill so I figure I could hold the flat bar in my vise and use a tapered endmill to achieve the angle does this seem like a good plan would I be able to do this with a 30 degree endmill with light cuts any opinions from those with more knowledge would be much appreciated
 
While what you propose would work, it would not be my first choice. Clamping/bolting the plate down to the table might be better. Since your head won't nod, and your Y axis is too short to do the job, tilting the plate on the table maybe is the best way to do it. The 60° included angle is not critical in this case, so somewhere close would be fine. I would rest one side of the plate on a piece of round bar the correct diameter, laid in the T-slot, and the back edge against a stop. A little trig will tell you the diameter of the round bar. An alternative is to make some 30° wedges out of almost any material ( I would use 3/4 MDF) and use that to set the angle. You could make an entire fixture out of MDF, and just bolt it to the T-slots. Then clamp the plate down to that.

I hope this gets the creative juices flowing:)
 
umahunter said:
I'm going to make a bending brake for my harborfreight 20 ton shop press I would like to make a top die with a with a 60 degree angle to be able to bend past 90 degrees I have a jet mill /drill so I figure I could hold the flat bar in my vise and use a tapered endmill to achieve the angle does this seem like a good plan would I be able to do this with a 30 degree endmill with light cuts any opinions from those with more knowledge would be much appreciated
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You probably could do it the way you suggest. I did a quick search for a 30 degree angle end mill and didn't find anything. Not saying there isn't anything available but you might find the cost prohibitive. I machined a 60 degree die for my HF press using an angle table. When you are done you will have an accessory tat can be used for other projects


Clamp your die to the table and mill one side with a standard end mill then flip it over and machine the other side.

Tom S.
 
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Scribe your angles on the end of the stock. Clamp/strap the stock down flat onto the mill table. And then machine to your angle using a ball end mill with multiple passes. This process would leave a streaky finish depending on how many passes you made. Could be OK for you , draw file it or whatever…Good Luck, Dave.
 
TomS said:
You probably could do it the way you suggest. I did a quick search for a 30 degree angle end mill and didn't find anything. Not saying there isn't anything available but you might find the cost prohibitive. I machined a 60 degree die for my HF press using an angle table. When you are done you will have an accessory tat can be used for other projects



Tom S.
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Interesting, tell us how you produced a 60° included angle V groove using a 90° included angle tool.
 
Wreck™Wreck said:
Interesting, tell us how you produced a 60° included angle V groove using a 90° included angle tool.
Click to expand...

Wish I had a picture but I couldn't find one of that particular setup. What I did was set the angle table to 30 degrees then clamp the die material to the angle table with toe clamps. Then align the material to the X axis and cut the first side (1/2 the material thickness). Because my mill didn't have enough X travel I had to mill about half the length then reposition it to machine the remaining half. Once the first side is done flip it over and repeat for the second side.

Below is a picture of the setup I used for the female die. Similar setup except the angle is 45 degrees instead of 30 degrees and I mounted my milling vice to the table to hold the part instead of using toe clamps.

Hope I've explained it clearly. If not let me know and I will do my best to answer your questions.

Tom S.

photo 29.jpg
 
You don't need 60 degrees on the bottom die. Cut it 90 degrees and mill a clearance slot in the bottom of the vee with a 3/16" endmill. I've made many that way , and it will bend up to 1/8" thick material to 60 degrees.
 
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