Poll: Would you rather machine cast iron, or.....

eeler1

Dang, buggered that up too!!
H-M Platinum Supporter
Joined
Mar 7, 2014
Messages
641
Get a sharp stick in your eye


Kiss a girl with a cold sore


Walk barefoot across hot coals


I don't really know how to set up a formal poll, so feel free to add other alternatives
 
I worked in an industry that machined large pieces (relative to me) all the time, Their product was a cast iron frame and cylinders with steel cranks and con rods. The largest con rods were larger than my forearm and too heavy to lift. The smallest cranks had 2 1/2" mains. The largest cylinders took pistons over 30 inches in diameter. CI machines much more easily than steel. the chips can be vacuumed easily, they're dust. Yeah, you want to have a dust collector going along side your cutter. We didn't consider it to be bad working conditions. Another job I had, the only product of the factory was CI brake rotors. same working conditions. Except all operations were flooded with coolant.
I have no prejudice against CI. It's good stable material.
 
Its dirty, but there is something primal about it; iron and humanity have a common thread about us. I have pleasure in working it; I think that I am communing with many generations of antecedents; we are iron, it flows through our veins and arteries; we are it!
 
Lmao!!!!! I just machined my first piece of cast iron (chick back plate for my dividing head) a month or so ago. The whole time I thought to myself “yeah this really $uck$”
 
It's no problem if you set up the shop vac with the nozzle near the cutter. Can be very messy but the stuff machines very well (sash weights and old railings not included!)
 
Get a sharp stick in your eye

My wife suffers from AMD, it's a problem with the retina, there is no cure and it eventually results in the loss of the central visual field. Current treatment consists of monthly injections in both eyeballs.
One of the few cases where being stuck in the eye is better than the alternative.
 
If I have a choice, I'll sub. other metal if allowable.
 
Gray cast or modular iron, no problem. Just clean up well afterward. White cast has iron carbide inclusions which eat cutting tools. It's a bummer when drilling or tapping to hit one of those.
I found found it to be a good idea when tapping C.I. to back the tap out and clean the flutes frequently. The small chips will pack the flutes and can jam up when backing the tap out causing some anxious moments.
 
Used to machine cast iron regularly for my job on a horizontal boring mill. I don't understand what the fuss is all about. Yeah, it's dusty and dirty but cuts like butter. It's just another trade off. For tapping, use a spiral flute gun tap. I never used coolant on cast iron, all cuts were dry. I bored a lot of holes then pressed bronze bushings in and bored those too.
 
At one time I ran so much cast iron I sweat rust for months after getting another job. Ya tasted it with every mouth full of food at lunch even after washing and showering up. Took me a couple years after to be free of rust I think . I really like machining it but I did ruin bits with hard spots in it. So even tho it's dirty I like it.
 
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