Small Dimple Tool forming Die-set

Post by **metalworkz** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:46 pm

I am making a forming Die set for a local sheet metal shop for a job they run in a brake press. They were using shop fabricated tooling made from stainless steel and pieced together to form the required tooling, but the new tool we are making should be more durable after hardening and will be closer to the standard type of tooling used in the brake press. I have only partially finished the machining for the punch half of the tool and I'm including pictures of the previous tool parts and the work done on the punch tool. So far it has worked great with Cut2D, take a look!
I will follow up with the completed work for the rest of the tooling as I get it done.

Post by **metalworkz** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:35 am

Hello,
I worked on milling the tongue for the brake press tooling today and have finished the punch half of the die-set. I still need to mill the pocket in the die half and also put a tongue on the base of it. I'm posting a couple shots of the punch half of the set. The view of the tongue side may appear to have an uneven surface on the back but it is just a reflection as both surfaces have no mismatch at all. Take a look.

Post by **metalworkz** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:18 am

Hello again,
I managed to mill the die half dimple pocket tonight so now all that is left is to machine the tongue for mounting in the brake press. Much less machining on the tool end of this half so it didn't take long at all. I've attached a picture of the 2 halves of the tool.

Post by **Phil** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:04 pm

Very nice work. Can you post some details on machining aluminum? What type of aluminum did you cut? Size and type of cutter. Speed and fed rates. Thanks.

Post by **Thkoutsidthebox** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:57 pm

Hi. Very nice. I dont work with metal much so please forgive the question, but will the few milling marks appear when the punch is being used, or are they visible but indistinguishable to touch?

Post by **metalworkz** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 2:13 am

Thkoutsidthebox wrote:Hi. Very nice. I dont work with metal much so please forgive the question, but will the few milling marks appear when the punch is being used, or are they visible but indistinguishable to touch?

Hello,
Thanks. Most of the tooling marks are visible but you cannot feel them when touching the tool and they will not mark the part when forming. I have only deburred the corner edges so far, but I will be doing some surface cleanup before I'm done. I will be able to remove any minor mismatch(mainly around the center protrusion of the dimple punch and a small area in the pocketed die half) I don't believe this particular tool will require much tonage to form the small tab dimples and the majority of the punch half(the keyhole shape) is basically a pilot for the keyhole that is already in the parts. You are right in that the tooling marks could be transfered to the parts if they consisted of high an low spots(mismatch, not flat) and enough tonage was applied to the parts.
Perhaps it would be better if I waited until done and then posted, but I get so anxious to share it would be hard to wait until done.
I will try to get a picture of a finished part that has been formed with this tool to help visualize what the tool is doing, but I still have more work to do before the tool is finished.

Post by **metalworkz** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:21 am

Phil wrote:Very nice work. Can you post some details on machining aluminum? What type of aluminum did you cut? Size and type of cutter. Speed and fed rates. Thanks.

Hello Phil,
I have some aluminum parts posted in a couple of other threads here on the Cut2D forum that you can take a look at. As for the type of aluminum I do a lot of work with 5052 H32, and maybe half as much with the 6061 T6. Most of the time the size of the cutter is a combination of what will fit the toolpath and what kind of operation is being performed. Most of the time I will use a narrow end mill for outside part profile cuts(.125" end mill) which enables more yield from the material. Feeds and speeds are not relavent to all machines but I will try to keep a record on the next couple of projects so I can provide that information.
I also have a homemade foundry and make my own aluminum castings. I have made most of the Gingery machines(metal lathe, milling machine and metal shaper) from scratch and being able to make your own castings is a big plus for a metalworking hobby.

Post by **Phil** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 12:00 am

Wes

You're doing foundry work too, that's impressive. I used to teach high school metal shop. We did aluminum castings, my students really enjoyed that. I wish we had CNC then. That would have really expanded our capabilities.

Post by **calgrdnr** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 2:01 am

Sounds like you have a nice little shop , I see you have been doing some impressive work. Maybe one of these days If your not to busy I could drive up and see your work in person and get some pointers on how to do all this stuff

Keep up the good work Kent

Post by **metalworkz** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:25 am

Hello,

Phil,
Thanks! I need to explain that I have not made any castings in almost 2 years. My foundry has been sitting idle and I have a couple of boxes with patterns already made that need to get moulded and cast, but my ambition level has not been up to the task. I had planned on making the Gingery dividing head next, but now I have a CNC router project started that I may need to make some castings for first. I am trying to fabricate most of the parts for the CNC router, but some of the parts may be easier or better if made from a casting. Since I have the CNC mill it is tempting to just machine everything but having the ability to make the castings opens up other possibilities that I may have to implement. I have pictures of my Gingery machines and some other stuff I have cast in aluminum but it may not be appropriate fro me to post them here.

Hi Kent,
Thank you, and it sounds like a win-win idea to me for us to get together and share our experiences. It seems like a long way for you to drive, but perhaps we can work something out. I am more than glad to pass on anything I can so that someone else may enjoy this metalworking hobby.
The thing about green sand moulding/casting is that you will usually be using a wooden pattern(unless you use foam etc) and most of us here on the Vectric forums are familiar with wood working already.

Post by **metalworkz** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 2:43 am

Hello,
I just wanted to update my progress or lack thereof as it turns out. I was milling the second side of the tongue on the tooling for the die half Wednesday night when my spindle became erradic for the RPMs and then it finally stopped with an error "External E-Stop requested in Mach3. The spindle seems to be dead with no rotation either in manual or CNC mode, so I will have to start tracking down the problem in order to get my spindle operable again. I have a feeling it might be a while before I can find out exactly what happened and get it fixed.
In the meantime I will have to move the tool to the Gingery horizontal mill I made from aluminum castings and finish the tongue there. I had almost started milling the tongues in that machine at the start but figured I might as well utilize the CNC mill right? Anyway there is only about .300" x .500" left on one side to mill so it should not take long. I am posting a couple pics of the tool clamped on the SX3 table for reference.
When I get the tool set up in the Gingery mill I will take some pics to post with the finished tool. The tool would fit on my metal shaper too, but it will be faster to just finish it in the horizontal mill. Strange how when you least expect it things can go to pieces, but I'm glad I got the dimple side of the tools done with the CNC before it died!

Post by **metalworkz** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 12:01 am

Hello,
I moved the dimple tool blank to my homemade Gingery horizontal mill to finish milling one side of the tongue detail. I ended up using a bigger tool in this setup(.625 Dia. HSS) than I did in the CNC mill and the milling turned out very good and perhaps has a better appearance than the CNC milled side due to each pass cutting the whole surface. The surface finish is not as smooth but there are no contrasting tooling marks, which will not make a difference in use anyway as the tool is just clamped in the machine by the tongue. I cleaned up the face of the punch half so there are no tool marks that can be felt on the surface and this should be fine for the forming operation it will be used on. I attached a few more pictures to show the setup in the Gingery mill and a view of the final tongue on the tool.
Now I need to trace down the problem with the CNC mill and fix it. The 3 axis still work fine so I may have to implement an add on high speed spindle sooner than I planned if I want to use the CNC mill to do any work.