Machining wrought iron?

Willie71

Willie71

Warren J. Krywko
Joined
Feb 23, 2013
Messages
12,214
I was working on my kith knife the other day, and when I drilled the holes for the guard, there was a lot of chatter as I drilled. I started milling the slot, using the same tooling and speeds I use for mild steel and annealed 416ss, and got about 1/8" and the end mill snapped. Does wrought iron need some sort of annealing to machine properly? I did a google search, and came up blank. All I've done to the WR is heat it to about 1600f to straighten it, as it's from a wagon wheel. Two brief heads, and air cooled. I ground the scale off, then tried to machine it.

Any suggestions?
 
Wagon wheels are not the cleanest grade of WR. Makes it difficult to machine.

Hoss
 
So slower, with more oil?

I might just slot small knives by hand, and only use the mill on 3/16" or wider tangs.
 
I've had no problem with it (but it's anchor chain) using AlTiN coated cutters with compressed air blowing chips and high spindle speeds, but that's on a bridgeport or my bigger mill.

It's kind of gummy and chunky like shitty stainless, if you're using a smaller mill I'd try a two flute hss cutter so you get good chip clearance, lock everything down as best you can and feed by hand make sure it feels ok. With all this stuff cutter selection depends so much on what you're working with. If you're just squirting oil in there, it's not really helping with your chip problem on a blind slot, you're just grinding all those chips and it's hella hard on a cutter and your finish.
 
I'll invest in a flushing system. I've been thinking about it for a while.
 
Willie71 said:
I'll invest in a flushing system. I've been thinking about it for a while.
Click to expand...

Compressed air works just fine if you use AlTiN coated cutters, which are designed to be run dry anyway. Flood coolant is ideal for most cutters, but for most smaller machines it's real messy. Misters, etc, a good for cooling but do nothing to evacuate chips from blind slots and holes, which is really what the issue in this case is, along with rigidity.
 
On my last WI guard, I went through six 1/8" end mills cutting the slot. Really pissed me off as once I broke a couple, I went REALLY slow and they were still snapping. Great stuff to forge, bitch to mill.
 
javand said:
Compressed air works just fine if you use AlTiN coated cutters, which are designed to be run dry anyway. Flood coolant is ideal for most cutters, but for most smaller machines it's real messy. Misters, etc, a good for cooling but do nothing to evacuate chips from blind slots and holes, which is really what the issue in this case is, along with rigidity.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll look into compressed air. My mill is a benchtop mill, but not a mini mill. It's firm, but not rigid. It weighs about 150kg.
 
Filing the stuff is quite easy from my experience.
 
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