Re: Holding thin sheet

At 00:22 20/02/2001 +0000, you wrote:

>You will be surprised what you can do with double sided tape.

Two hazards to watch with this technique:

1) If the thin sheet is heated appreciably by the machining operation, the
tape loses its adhesive properties (the glue melts).

2) You can get problems with thin sheet that has been rolled & not been
stress-relieved if the machining operation removes significant areas of the
surface skin - the sheet bends & the tape won't hold it. I have had this
problem with engraving operations on thin brass sheet (1/16" or so).

Hot-melt glue can be used also, but similar caveats apply.

The double-sided tape that is used for carpet-laying is pretty good - have
to watch how you remove the part after machining to avoid distortion. The
loss of "stick" with rising temperature can be used to advantage in
removing parts from the tape.

For machining brass/copper etc. sheet, it can be worth considering
attaching the sheet to a thicker mounting plate with soft solder if the
heating/distorting effects mentioned above are likely to be a problem.

Regards,
Tony