- Joined
- Jan 25, 2015
- Messages
- 2,558
So I’m going to need to manufacture some sewing machine parts in the near future. Mostly rods and links.
I’ve got mainly hss tooling with some carbide here and there. The mill tooling is mainly hss, the lathe uses mostly indexable carbide.
The rods need to handle torsion and contact loads (ie:rubbing/bearing) and some have the possibility of bending loads (ie: needle bar pushing needle and thread through denim, leather, etc.
What I need is a little help with is what material to make them out of?
1018 probably has the strength and mass to work, but I’m thinking it will likely wear quickly where it needs to for part of a bearing surface. As in: one part rubbing on the flat of another surface while oiled.
I need something that will machine with my tooling, yet have a hard enough surface to handle torsional and rubbing loads.
Is there a material to fit this bill? Perhaps something that can be annealed for machining and then rehardened?
Heres a few pics to give a bit of an idea how the parts will be loaded:
Edit: a vid of something like what I'll be working on might be better to see the moving components. I'm primarily looking at making needle bars 9rod that holds needle) presser bar (rod that holds the moving foot), etc:
Jump fwd to around 2:30 to see it running.
I also have a few friends with vintage/antique machines they can no longer get parts for and I’ve been asked a couple times if I could make “x” or “y” for them. Would be nice to help them out, but again, not sure on what I should be using as far as materials goes.
I’m thinking a lot of these parts might be chromed or similar because they seem to resist rusting for a good long while and then seem to rust like gangbusters after they’ve had to sit in the elements for a while….
I’ve got mainly hss tooling with some carbide here and there. The mill tooling is mainly hss, the lathe uses mostly indexable carbide.
The rods need to handle torsion and contact loads (ie:rubbing/bearing) and some have the possibility of bending loads (ie: needle bar pushing needle and thread through denim, leather, etc.
What I need is a little help with is what material to make them out of?
1018 probably has the strength and mass to work, but I’m thinking it will likely wear quickly where it needs to for part of a bearing surface. As in: one part rubbing on the flat of another surface while oiled.
I need something that will machine with my tooling, yet have a hard enough surface to handle torsional and rubbing loads.
Is there a material to fit this bill? Perhaps something that can be annealed for machining and then rehardened?
Heres a few pics to give a bit of an idea how the parts will be loaded:
Edit: a vid of something like what I'll be working on might be better to see the moving components. I'm primarily looking at making needle bars 9rod that holds needle) presser bar (rod that holds the moving foot), etc:
Jump fwd to around 2:30 to see it running.
I also have a few friends with vintage/antique machines they can no longer get parts for and I’ve been asked a couple times if I could make “x” or “y” for them. Would be nice to help them out, but again, not sure on what I should be using as far as materials goes.
I’m thinking a lot of these parts might be chromed or similar because they seem to resist rusting for a good long while and then seem to rust like gangbusters after they’ve had to sit in the elements for a while….
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