Hello all, I recently recieved a stainless steel print of some frame halfs for a 0-4-0 Baldwin Loco. They were beautifully printed, but I'm having a hard time machining them. Does anyone have any recommendations on what bits to use and whether this material can be taped? I used a cobalt drill bit this morning with cutting fluid for about 5 minutes at each speed and did nothing more than scratch the material.
It's not stainless steel, it's a mix of stainless steel and bronze. Just like concrete is a mix of cement and stones/sand. A composite, not an alloy. All experiences suggest this is a "stubborn" material when it comes to machining. Not impossible, but not easy either. Use carbide and go slow, and maybe consider full plain CNC.
Thanks for the suggestions. I think my next go round I'm going to have the holes already drilled into the 3D model.
No warranties they will be in the right place, so you could end having to do some machining anyway. Thus the suggestion of plain metal block (real SS or whatever suits the task better) and CNC machining.
Like Stannum say's Carbide tooling, slow feeds is the only way to go. Try using flat bits, not twist drills on small holes. These are stronger. For milling same holds true carbide run slower than normal.