CNC LATHE... anyone have use of one??

i'm planning on building a large radius tubing roller. a couple of them in fact. and i am trying to find someone/somewhere to get the dies made at a reasonable cost. seems to me the simplest and most accurate way would be to have it done on a CNC lathe. then the radius of the dies would be the same. i'm wanting 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" round tube dies and possibly others aswell. is there anyone out there who could possibly help me out with this little project?? i've gotta talk to Zombie about it but i'm thinking it (building the machine) might make a cool tech article for Traditional Rod and Kulture but mostly i want it so i can build the new frame for my BSA.

thanks.

Mike Brimm

 

I have machinist buddies; if you don't find someone local, let me know. I suppose you have seen the roller on metalmeet.com?

 

It might be cheaper to buy dies from someone like Baileigh Industrial, then pattern your machine around their dies.

 

that is what i'm trying to figure out. have'nt had much luck yet finding dies listed for sale on the net other than Eastwoods. i'll check out Baileigh Industrial. thanks.... and i did check out the Metal Meet machine...

 

Those dies could be cut on a manual machine with a pretty simple form tool.

You don't necessarily need a CNC lathe here.

The blanks of bar will be expensive as hell though. The metal suppliers will really stick it in you for cutting just three to six 3" thick discs like that.

I concur that it would likely be cheaper to buy the rolls from Baileigh or the like.

If you can't find anyone else to do it, give me a PM and I'll run the numbers for you.

 

Try This:

XYZ Machining
Tim Norman
5141 West 100 South
Warsaw, Indiana 46580-8962
www.xyzmachining.com
(574) 269-5541

 

Try this:

www.emachineshop.com

You download their software, draw out your parts (it's pretty easy) and they quote manufacturing based on material, quantity, machine, finish, etc. Pretty neat - don't know how competitive as the items I wanted made had an arc or long radius that was outside of the capability of the software.

Steve

 

i agree with cool hand a decent lathe operator could make them probably cheaper than cnc. cnc is usally better for quantity or somthing with odd shapes that are hard to dial off

 

A good machinest can do that with a mill and rotary table. Might check into that also while your trying to find someone to do the job.

Frank

 

We made a set of 3 rollers for a CNC bender.

The rollers were probably 12' diameter,concave rad on the OD,keyway broached on the ID,and they were hardened after they were finished.

We did the rough machining manually,roughing the rads as a series of steps,then did the final cuts on a CNC lathe.

It was a lot of work.

 

call me or post some specks or call joe and mason, i think they have one.

 

Have you tried Mitler Brothers? Don't know if they sell the dies seperate or not.

 

i was thinking that today. the one quote i got so far was ALOT of money. like more than double the cost of buying the dies. still researching my options. i'll follow up on the leads you guys just left for me. thanks a ton.

Mike

 

Try the guys over at www.practicalmachinist.com There will be several guys there that can fix you up . Turning radius's aint that tough if you have a swiveling tool post . CNC is great if you need 5000 parts made to areospace tolerences but to make a few rollers it would be overkill .

 

i've gotten some GREAT ideas and advice here. thanks again fellas. i'll let ya know how it works out.

 

If you want them to last they will need to be made from A-2 decarb free then heat treated to at least 45-50 rockwell. I can make them for you call me at work Monday.
Ed 1-219-996-6062 Hebron in.

 

If they need to be made from A2,
why do they only need to be hardened to 45-50 RC ?

 

as often as i'm likely to use this thing i'm wondering if it is realy necesary to have them heat treated. the jury is still out on that one and i've been talking to several knowledgable friends in the machining trade, specificaly GMGrunt (Jeff Higel), since i'm probably going to end up talking him into teaching me how to carve them out on his (NON-CNC) lathe ...

 

For low volumes,Aluminum is fine.
I've used plywood for some stuff.


For the tight rads on a bike frame,I'd be looking
for something different than a ring roller.

Some variation on the Hossfeld design would be better.

 

i just need the ring roller for the backbone to be quite honest. perhaps the down tube aswell but the tighter radiuses will be done on a different bender that i can use at my buddie's place. not that i would'nt mind owning one myself one of these days. one project at a time i have to keep telling myself. HA HA HA. i don't listen very well though.

 

I have access to anything you need at all, I have a mill and a few lathes in my basement and I work in a Ford plant where I have heard rumors of the occasional "government job"

 

Got one sent you a pm. also have a raduis cutter gizmo I made for the lathe I will post some pics of both tomorow.

Bret.

 

I am a CNC god if you want the exact radius go CNC.If you decide you still want them on th CNC PM me and we will dicuss the fee's

 

Ok heres a pic of my roller

 

another I was bending some tubing for a leaf springer Im building. I have bent all kinds of stuff with the same wheels evey thing from flat stock to 1 inch square tubing to 1.25 tuding to 3/8 rod. So long as you send it center it up in the radius of the wheels its all good.

 

you have to leave the tubing about 6 inches long on each end so you can cut the funny kink off

 

Are the wheels power driven ?

That design might make a good entry for the next tech week.

 

Heres a radius cutter that I built to cut the wheels. It works ok, the bigest problem was keeping the chips out. I ran the lathe in reverse and flipped the tool bit upside down to help clear the chips out.

 

The wheels are driven by hand with the spider web looking wheel. Power is transmited with a chain on the back side. It works fine by hand I havent had anything yet that I couldnt roll through it yet.

I have it drawn in autocad but the design would need to be cleaned up by some one alot better at autocad then me.

 

Post up the file. I'm an engineer, and I'm very familiar with Autocad (I use it pretty much every day). I'll clean it up and post a version that most anyone should be able to build from.

What material did you use for your rollers? Did you go with a hard tool steel, or did you use an easier to machine material?