And UHMW is fine too! - UHMW

> UHMW is TOUGH, but not hard. Gummy. It "likes" to be cut in shallow
> bites; trying to hog it out WILL lead to despair.

op's cut the part about cutting boards. Are common cutting boards
UHMW? sure would save a order from the McMaster.

When making linear slide bushings from the stuff, how thick or thin
do you make the bushing ? I seem to remeber someone saying THIN,
like 10-15 thou.


I find cutting plastics that heat is the killer for a cut, but chips
are the killer for machining. get them out of the way. water or
air, doesn't matter.

they don't second cut very well, but slide between the cutter and
part. The cutter stirs thry the pile of chips, getting one or two on
the edge so when it comes back to contact the part, the chip slides
until pressure slices it. the friction makes heat that ruins both
finish and free chips.

The biggest problem is chip clearance more than depth of cut, at
least for my projects. If I can pull the chips off, I take 1/4 inch
deep cuts on the lathe. ID cuts are not always so considderate.

> BTW, I don't use coolant per se, but do keep a stream of air aimed

at the cut point. I've always believed its real purpose was to clear
the chips, rather than cool (because I useta not use it and things
worked fine then too), but it does help. Carbide tooling for sure.

>

I Use HSS on the lathe. 45-60 degree rake angle on the cutter. Have
not used those new radically high rake aluminium inserts, although
they would be good for this type of work.

Dave