Resizing Tool for Aluminum Round Rod

bretthl

bretthl

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I have a bunch of pieces to make from 1/2" diameter aluminum round rod. The rod must be sized to 0.495" +/1 0.002" in short sections. I have been doing this on the lathe but it is tedious work. Does anyone know of a tool that can be adjusted, run in the tail stock and over-ream to the required dimension? I have seen adjustable reamers for holes and am hoping such a tool exists that will work on the OD of round stock.
 
bretthl said:
I have a bunch of pieces to make from 1/2" diameter aluminum round rod. The rod must be sized to 0.495" +/1 0.002" in short sections. I have been doing this on the lathe but it is tedious work. Does anyone know of a tool that can be adjusted, run in the tail stock and over-ream to the required dimension? I have seen adjustable reamers for holes and am hoping such a tool exists that will work on the OD of round stock.
Click to expand...

Perhaps a turret lathe box tool would work.
 
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Perhaps I misunderstand your challenge. If I had a rod, which was 48 inches long, and wanted to make a bunch of spacers/buttons a half inch thick, I would pull the tailstock, put in a ball-bearing steady rest on the ways, and a spider on the back side of the spindle.
Then I would cut the O.D. to the correct dimension with the rod sticking out a couple inches from the chuck (and face it).
Then I would slide the rod (which has the correct O.D. into the bearing steady rest and then start cutting the desired O.D. on
large sections between the chuck (or collet) and the steady rest. After each O.D. run, the bar would get slid to the right until the entire
48 inch rod (except the last quarter inch gripped by the chuck/collet) is cut to the desired O.D.

Then Rod would then get slid back to the far left, and the parting tool would get set up, and cutting the rod (which has the correct O.D.), into buttons would begin.

As an extra step, if you don't like the finish of the parting tool, each of the "buttons" could be sliced a bit thick, and the buttons could be chucked up and faced. If you have soft-jaws for your chuck, this is where they really shine. A collet would also work well, provided too much of the rod is not sticking out for the facing operation.

But then, this is where a quick drawing on a napkin of the desired part would help us do a better job of describing an efficient process to make it. I may be entirely off the mark of what you intend. Include how many parts you need to make, that is part of the calculation of "how fancy" the setup is. If a LOT of parts are being made, then you can burn the time to do a really fancy setup. If only ten parts are being made, I tend to keep it basic.

Foleda's suggestion of a box tool would also work with some caveats. The finished length you need an O.D. cut on must be short, and you need a way to mount the Box Tool on your lathe. A lot of Turret lathe tools used pretty big tapers. For the record, if I was making 100 parts or more, I would much rather make them on a properly set up Turret lathe, than an Engine lathe. If I wanted to do small runs or prototypes, I would rather do them on an engine lathe, than a turret lathe.
 
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addertooth said:
Perhaps I misunderstand your challenge. If I had a rod, which was 48 inches long, and wanted to make a bunch of spacers/buttons a half inch thick, I would pull the tailstock, put in a ball-bearing steady rest on the ways, and a spider on the back side of the spindle.
Then I would cut the O.D. to the correct dimension with the rod sticking out a couple inches from the chuck (and face it).
Then I would slide the rod (which has the correct O.D. into the bearing steady rest and then start cutting the desired O.D. on
large sections between the chuck (or collet) and the steady rest. After each O.D. run, the bar would get slid to the right until the entire
48 inch rod (except the last quarter inch gripped by the chuck/collet) is cut to the desired O.D.

Then Rod would then get slid back to the far left, and the parting tool would get set up, and cutting the rod (which has the correct O.D.), into buttons would begin.

As an extra step, if you don't like the finish of the parting tool, each of the "buttons" could be sliced a bit thick, and the buttons could be chucked up and faced. If you have soft-jaws for your chuck, this is where they really shine. A collet would also work well, provided too much of the rod is not sticking out for the facing operation.

But then, this is where a quick drawing on a napkin of the desired part would help us do a better job of describing an efficient process to make it. I may be entirely off the mark of what you intend. Include how many parts you need to make, that is part of the calculation of "how fancy" the setup is. If a LOT of parts are being made, then you can burn the time to do a really fancy setup. If only ten parts are being made, I tend to keep it basic.
Click to expand...

Addertooth,

You are on the mark and that that is pretty close to what I have been doing but it is so time consuming! These parts need a close slip fit in a reamed 1/2" hole. The process I use currently is"

1. Chuck 24" of 1/2" or 5/8" 6061 in the collet chuck with 1-3/4" stick out.
2. Bore a 3/8" or 1/2" hole to the required depth using the tail stock.
3. Turn the OD to 005" less than nominal diameter.
4. Part off at 1-1/8" or 1-3/8" with HSS.
5. Repeat.

The problem is I am swapping between the OD turning tool and parting tool and so I have to touch off each time with the OD turning tool because I can't get repeatability with my wedge tool post (or PM1340 lathe). All this takes time.

I make hundreds of these per year for a product I manufacture. I know you can purchase a chucking reamer in about any OD needed. I was hoping to find an OD reamer, similar to an annular drill bit. Put it in the tail stock chuck and over ream the round rod.

foleda said:
Perhaps a turret turret lathe box tool would work.
Click to expand...

Foleda,

That tool would work if it had some way to constrain the rod opposite the cutter. Perhaps I could build something similar with a pair of sealed bearings as backup. The tool pressure would not be that great
 
foleda said:
Perhaps a turret turret lathe box tool would work.
Click to expand...

Wow, thanks for that tip. I did a little digging on box tools and wound up purchasing this. It has a 1" shank and I will have to build a taper adapter for the tail stock. The largest chuck I have is 3/4". Or use the 1" boring bar holder. We'll see.

www.ebay.com

LATHE TOOL HOLDER - BROWN & SHARPE # 20C BOX TURNING TOOLHOLDER | eBay

<p>LATHE TOOL HOLDER - BROWN & SHARPE # 20C BOX TURNING TOOLHOLDER 1” shank. Condition is "Used". Shipped with USPS Priority Mail.</p>
www.ebay.com

s-l1600.jpg
 
bretthl said:
Wow, thanks for that tip. I did a little digging on box tools and wound up purchasing this. It has a 1" shank and I will have to build a taper adapter for the tail stock. The largest chuck I have is 3/4". Or use the 1" boring bar holder. We'll see.

www.ebay.com

LATHE TOOL HOLDER - BROWN & SHARPE # 20C BOX TURNING TOOLHOLDER | eBay

<p>LATHE TOOL HOLDER - BROWN & SHARPE # 20C BOX TURNING TOOLHOLDER 1” shank. Condition is "Used". Shipped with USPS Priority Mail.</p>
www.ebay.com

View attachment 340215
Click to expand...
I'd love to see this tool in action.
 
Yes, the touch off between parts and re-zero is eating some of your per-part time. That is why I suggested turning all of the O.D. at the same time as one setup operation. This way you are only setting up your O.D. cutting operation once. Then it will just be drill and part to make each of your spacers/collars with a rod which has already had the O.D. cut to the final dimension.
 
Why not turn the OD first using the tail stock and follower, then you could pull the bar back into the chuck, drill and cut off. The problem with production is minimizing the number of steps. If it were me:

1) Turn OD to desired at least 12" at a time using the tail stock and follower rest. Your tolerances are doable at this length
2) Pull stock into chuck to shorten what is sticking out
3) Center drill the end that is faced (Need only do this once to the end of the bar)
4) Drill final hole as deep as your tool will go.
5) Part off.
6) Pull out some more bar
7) Repeat steps 4, 5 & 6 (Be sure to retain the hole so that you can just pull the tail stock forward and extend it as needed, maybe able to get two parts between drilling)

As for the tool changes, replace your tool post with a quick change tool post. This will allow you to change tools much easier. With a DRO you can even program the tools to reset zero for each.
 
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