Yes it is expensive compared to, say five years ago. I just looked at
for, and was supplied by http://www.saxonsteels.com/ in Shefield UK.
The packet also has data printed on it about how to harden and details
the composition of the steel.
+ vat. More than double in price.
the cheapest but have it on sale from time to time. I'm used to the
round silver steel being in 13" lengths but the ground flat stock always
seemed to be in 18" lengths for inch sizes and 500mm for metric sizes.
It may depend on the supplier. For the application of punching out
blanks from a sheet it would seem easy to do a rectangular punch and die
for the OPs job and I've done non rectangular shapes in the past where
I've milled to the profile by eye and then hand stoned to get the punch
and die to fit and then all went well. I do have a fly press, (screw
press US?) to run these tools in though.
On Sunday, December 14, 2014 10:10:46 AM UTC-5, Baron wrote:
Thanks.
I still would need to determine the best way to get it to shape. I assume I would mill it to rough dimensions with the proper end mill, but grinding those rows into the points I mentioned would be more of a mystery.
I'd then have to figure out a way to use my milling table as an index jig to work with a press punch.
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York
On Sunday, December 14, 2014 10:28:11 AM UTC-5, Larry Jaques wrote:
I'm not sure if I can cut .0156" wide strips off of Phosphor-Bronze stock with a shear.
They did however just open up a new Harbor Freight here on Staten Island. Located it on the block in between the two blocks that have a Lowes and Home Depot. :)
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
On Sun, 14 Dec 2014 14:32:02 -0800 (PST), snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com
wrote:
In an earlier post you said that the stock was up to .042" thick. And
you want to shear this into strips .0156 wide? Do you really mean
.156" wide? If the latter then I think I know a way to cut your strips
on the lathe. The explanation is kinda long because I can't show you a
picture so let me know if wide strips will work.
Eric
On Sunday, December 14, 2014 7:32:47 PM UTC-5, snipped-for-privacy@whidbey.com wrote:
My mistake. As I said in my first post the strips have to be no more than .156" wide.(Not .0156). But yes, I did say the thickest will be .042"
Thanks.
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
On Mon, 15 Dec 2014 16:34:13 -0800 (PST), snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com
wrote:
Greetings Darren,
So I guess you need lots of these strips and this tooling suggestion
is for doing lots of strips. You will need a plate, steel would be
best but aluminum or brass would work, just not last as long. I seem
to recall that the strips are 4 inches long. So you would need to
start with shim stock that was 4 inches wide and some convenient
length, say 4 to six inches. The shim stock should be stacked so that
it is about .25 thick, maybe even up to .375 thick. The pieces must be
stacked carefully because you are going to cut through the whole stack
at once. This is for two reasons, for production and to minimize
burrs. It would be best if the stock is cleaned of oil at one end so
that all the pieces in the stack can be glued together. This gluing
just needs to be at the end of the stack farthest from the cutter. The
glue should be something that easily dissolves in some sort of
solvent. Super glue would work and acetone will dissolve it. The
reason for the gluing is so that when the stack is moved into the
cutting zone all the pieces will move together. When I have done stuff
like this I apply the glue and then clamp or weigh down so that the
glue is spread very thin, maybe .001" or .002" thick. Now that you
have your stack of glued up pieces you need to put them in the cutting
fixture. Which I had better explain how to make. There are three basic
pieces and several screws. The first piece is the base plate. It needs
to be of some substantial thickness, at least .500". Even better would
be .75". You will need to come up with some way to affix it to the
cross slide on your lathe. Since I don't know what your lathe looks
like I can't say exactly how you will do this.Maybe you can drill and
counterbore some holes and then run screws through the plate into the
top of the cross slide. Or maybe, if the compound needs to be removed
to make room for the plate, you can use the nuts that hold the
compound to the cross slide. The plate should be about 5.00" x 6.00"
to support the stock and for a couple tapped holes for a clamp.
Machine the plate so that the sides are square to each other. Now for
the other two pieces. The first is just a rectangular piece made from
steel. It should measure 5.0 by .500 by .25 thick. Drill two 1/4 inch
holes centered on the bar and 4.300 apart. After the bar is all
machined it should be gently curved through the .25 thick direction.
This can be done easily in a vise. Lay the bar in the vise with the
bar spaced away from the fixed jaw using any convenient spacers. A
couple pieces of keystock for example. Now use a third spacer that
touches the bar in the middle and close the vise on the assembly. You
will need to bend the bar a little at a time until you get about .04
inches of bend. This bar will be one of the clamps. The gentle curve
is so that when tightened onto the shim stock it will contact the
center of the stock first and then flatten as the screws are tightened
so that the bar will tend to clamp all along the shim stock, not just
at the ends. The third part is the other clamp. It should be milled
from steel. It should be 4.00" long, .875 high, and .400" thick. A
step needs to be milled in the .400 thickness direction that is .150
deep by .750 wide and runs the complete length of the part. So in
cross section the part will be L shaped. Now drill 3 holes .375
diameter through the .250" thickness. The two holes closest to the
ends should be .375 from the ends and the third hole should be
centered. Then drill two more holes .290 (letter L drill) diameter
each centered between the center .375 hole and an outer .375 hole.
All 5 holes should be drilled .230 from the bottom of the bar. Now
drill and tap 5 each 1/4-20 holes in the end of the base plate that
will match the holes you drilled in the clamp bar. The screws going
into these holes are socket head cap screws. Next, for three 1/4-20
screws, put them in the lathe in a 4 jaw chuck and adjust for .040 TIR
runout. Turn until they clean up. All three screw heads should be the
same diameter, about .335. Screw the three eccentric head screws into
the base plate until they bottom out and then back off until all three
screw heads are in the high position. Assemble the clamp bar to the
base plate with two 1/4-20 screws that go through the two .290 holes.
Use a flat washer between the screw head and the bar. Use Loctite on
the screws and adjust so that the clamp bar moves with slight
pressure. Now you should be able to slide your stack of shim stock
under the clamp bars and use the eccentric screws to clamp the stock
that will be cut off and the other clamp bar to hold the stock yet to
be cut. You should use a saw blade that is about as small in diameter
that will work. This is because you will be climb cutting with the saw
blade. You want to climb cut because this will direct the cutting
force down into the cross slide and pushing the shim stock against the
base plate. The drawback is that the cutting forces will want to draw
the saw into the work and pull the work out of the clamping fixture.
Using a smaller daimeter saw blade will lessen the tendency of the saw
to pull the work form the fixture. When cutting you will want to
adjust the gib screws so that there is a little drag when turning the
feed handle. This is to prevent the cross slide from being pulled into
the saw blade. Run the saw as fast as you can for the material being
cut, use the proper cutting fluid, and use a fairly slow feed. Using
this cutting technique will lessen the burrs. The first cut made with
the setup will also be cutting into the base plate so if it is steel
make sure your saw RPM is slow enough so that it is not damaged. The
first cut should be deeper than all the rest of the cuts so that the
saw blade won't be touching the steel when running at high speed. The
same thickness saw blade should always be used. If a wider slot is cut
into the base plate this will leave room for burrs to form. You could
cut a slot in the base plate that is deeper than the gullets between
the saw teeth by about 30%. Then the slot can help guide the saw
blade. Make sure the carriage is locked in place when using this
fixture. Whew! I sure hoped this helped. A picture in this case surely
would have been worth a thousand word.
Cheers,
Eric
In previous incarnations of this thread, 0.156" has been the
usually-mentioned width, reflecting the 0.156" on center spacing of
56-pin (28x2) edge connectors used in various arcade game consoles.
Eg, in <https://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topicy20.0 ,
(in 3rd post from the end of the page) Harris wrote: "The only
thing left to do is to find the best way to make my own electrical
contacts out of Phosphor-Bronze for the zero-insertion-force
"connectors" I have to make. This is because there are no
connectors out there that offer no resistance when put together
and pulled apart, *and* also will consistently come together
perfectly and without bending the pins. So therefore, I will be
using flat strips of the Phosphor-Bronze as contact surfaces."
<https://groups.google.com/forum /#!topic/rec.woodworking/zAgHNZ0xbrA>
is his former rec.woodworking thread about making 30-wide sets of
grooves on 0.156" centers to hold sets of springy contacts.
<http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.crafts.metalworking/2008-03/msg02476.html
is his former rec.crafts.metalworking thread about making a gangsaw
for cutting strips of 0.032 phosphor-bronze sheet to widths of about
0.08" to use as contacts.
<http://www.homeownershub.com/woodworking/help-how-to-make-a-gang-saw-450287-1.htm
is his former rec.woodworking thread about the subject, and there's
a picture and description near the middle of the page (in the post
dated February 12, 2009, 12:18 am) with the following explanation:
"I will need phosphor-bronze strips in the same width because I will
be soldering them to the traces on fingerboards like that shown. The
other end of these phosphor-bronze strips will run over a wood or
nylon housing similar to the black JAMMA housing pictured, but it will
not be hollow. Instead it will just have a slit that the fingerboard
will fit into. So I'm effectively separating the proximity of the
traces on both side of the fingerboard and wrapping them around the
housing that holds the fingerboard. The (wood/nylon) housing's
thickness will be 3/8" of an inch and the phosphor-bronze strips
will wrap around it just short of meeting at the other side."
***
Returning to the present, it would be easier to give useful
advice if Harris were to explain the big picture, and say what
he is trying to do (which I think might be trying to make
something than can connect different game boards into a single
console assembly, without damaging the game boards when
changing them in and out; or it might be something about making
a way to select one of several boards inside a console; etc)
instead of asking how to cut off strips that are 0.156" wide from a
phosphor-bronze sheet. If I correctly understand the application,
maybe one of the next several methods could be adapted to solve
the actual problem:
1. Buy some 28x2 pin, 0.156" spacing, edge connectors like at
<http://www.electronicsurplus.com/amp-inc-2-530664-6-connector-pcb-edge
(or whatever size of connector is appropriate) and with a slitting
saw cut it from the back into two long pieces, each with 28 springy
contacts still attached and hanging out ready to use, analogous to a
leaf battery connector. (Leaf battery connectors are available at
several pitches, eg 3.9 mm is close to the 3.96 mm of 0.156", but
they usually have not more than 4 to 6 leaves.)
2. Make a 5"x0.5" printed circuit board to hold 28 pogo pins on
0.156" centers. The board would need an attached backbone to
stiffen it, or two boards could be used separated by spacers (see
<http://dangerousprototypes.com/2013/02/11/another-diy-icsp-pogo-pin-connector/
eg) to form a beam. (At google images, put pogo pin board in the
search box to see other arrangements.) Using pogo pins probably
would give the best reliability and be the most professional
approach, if the application has room for pogo pins. A 5"x0.5"
PCB would cost about $4.17 ea Q3 (ie, $12.50 for 3 boards) from
<https://oshpark.com/ and pogo pins cost 8 to 80 cents each,
depending on style and quantity. Eg, see 50 ea spear-point pogo
pins for $4.49 on ebay at <http://goo.gl/IH8bjA .
3. Use a jeweler's wire-rolling press (see pictures of examples
at <http://www.ebay.com/bhp/jewelry-rolling-mill ) to roll phosphor-
bronze wire to desired thickness/width. Starting with half-hard
wire, eg <http://theringlord.com/cart/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id 4>
#14 AWG / #12 SWG / 2mm, roll it down to 0.031" thick, when it will
be 0.156" wide if I calculated right. By trial and error with a
few feet of wire, one may be able to find a rolling sequence that
work-hardens it to desired hardness. Without a wire-rolling press,
experiment with the wire using an anvil and small hammer. A few
rolls of alloy C510 phosphor bronze round or square wire of several
sizes would run $20 to $40 total and provide a few hundred feet to
experiment with.
4. Contact some of the small-quantity phosphor-bronze wire sellers
that show up when you google, and see what they'd charge to supply
hard flat wire that's 0.03 to 0.04" thick in the desired width.
Small-quantity sellers include <http://theringlord.com mentioned above and
<http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/WickwireJewelry/8060867/phosphor_bronze_jewelry_wire-16_gauge_round_dead_soft-8_feet/indie_supplies/jewelry_supplies/jewelry_tools/wire <http://www.wire-sculpture.com/ has (or had) bronze half-round wire.
Also see <http://www.supermetalind.com/bronze-wires.html but they
are in India and I don't know if they sell small amounts.
<http://www.fortepiano.com/wire/PhosBronze/phosbronze_003.htm sells
small-diameter (possibly too small) alloy 510 phosphor bronze wire
in small quantities and sells spring brass likewise, and does custom
drawing for > $500.
<https://www.etsy.com/listing/207812117/bare-phosphor-bronze-artistic-wire-solid
has phosphor bronze wire in gauges 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26,
28, 30, 32, 34 in small lots, mostly dead soft instead of half hard.
<(Amazon.com product link shortened)> <(Amazon.com product link shortened)>
I have a Central Machinery 30" 3-in-1 and an 8" Enco bench shear. Both
are OK for a hobbyist but fussier than I would put up with for any
sort of production, especially when used near their capacity. The
original owner of the 30" gave up on it. Both distort narrow strips,
the 30" slightly and the 8" considerably.
-jsw
snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com prodded the keyboard
Hello Darren,
Unfortunately I don't know of any projects using these kinds of tools,
sorry. However I had a similar problem quite some while ago, where I
needed hundreds of thousands of parts made in 0.9 mm thick aluminium.
I fabricated a form tool that would cut and shape the part, punching
two holes as well, all in one go. I used gauge plate for the
fabrication and turned and milled the parts needed. The whole tool
was tested and then hardened before mounting on a three ton spring
press. The tool was later copied and used to make five parts at one
go.
HTH.
On Thursday, December 4, 2014 3:19:44 AM UTC+1, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:
d concluded that the only way to do this quickly and consistently with the
tools I have is to create some sort of a jig that would hold the work on my
lathe bed and then use a slitting saw.
Do you have a table saw? Make a cross-slide table for it and cut away!
On Thursday, December 11, 2014 10:35:43 AM UTC-5, robobass wrote:
e:
and concluded that the only way to do this quickly and consistently with th
e tools I have is to create some sort of a jig that would hold the work on
my lathe bed and then use a slitting saw.
Not an option.
My table saw is way too noisy to use where I'm no at and it would probably
waste 50% of the stock any way. (The TS blade is probably as thick as the p
ieces I'll need to make).
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
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