Monday, July 30, 2007

Sharp Tools Make All The Difference

My chop saw wasn't doing a very neat or fast job cutting Delrin, as I mentioned recently, so I bought a replacement blade. I cut a small amount of aluminum and a lot of Delrin (which isn't much softer), and the original high speed steel blade got dull very quickly. This time, instead of spending $10 on a 10" steel blade, I spend $50 on a 10" carbide tipped blade. And my, what a difference! It cuts through Delrin like a hot knife through warm butter.

The surface is so perfect that I don't feel any urge to sand it--and there's no need to run it through the vertical mill and flycutter to make sure that I have an even surface. I am supposed to be producing a 30 degree cut. When I measure it, it is within a degree of that angle.

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