purchasing aluminum (and delrin?) rounds online

as some of you may know, i recently purchased a mini-lathe. so far, i have only been able to turn a cheap rod of some gummy al that a friend gave me, and i had do do it with a screwdriver

sunday night, i ordered some cutting tools, so they should be here soon enough.

anyway, i have been looking locally for a place that can sell me some aluminum rounds, i haven't had any luck...

someone mentioned http://www.onlinemetals.com/ in another thread, and i checked it out. there prices seem fair (to someone that has never checked out metal before...) i would be primarily wanting 1" and 1..3" stock. is this 6061 t6 good stuff for flashlight bodies and heatsinks?

also, they had delrin there, i think i would like to get some of that also because of it's non-conductive properties.

another reason i like this place is because they custom cut the lengts to your needs at a cost per inch. i would be purchasing 9" segments.

should i go ahead and order? are there better places? is this the metal i want?

Try these:

http://www.auctionworks.com/store/default.asp?sfo=lowcostmetals

http://www.machinist-materials.com/

http://www.metalmart.com/

http://www.titaniumjoe.com/

Also Ebay has lots of raw stock. What kind of mini lathe did you get? They're all made in the same factory but there are some differences. You'll need to tear it completely down and rebuild it if you want to it work real well. There are some things you'll need to look at right away to avoid spindle bearing failure.

A wealth of info here on all minis:
http://www.mini-lathe.com/Default.htm

Try here for the best source of stuff for your mini: http://www.littlemachineshop.com/default.php

6061 T6 is good stuff to work with, you'll do fine. Just dont expect that little lathe to do heavy work, a 9 X 20 is a much better choice. Let me know if you have any tooling or other questions.

thanks gman! that metalmart looks like a great place also...but it presents a problem: more choices! what would be the best for flashlight bodies and heatsinks? i'm guessing err...2024?

i purchased the 7 x 10 from harbor frieght. i don't think it can do titanium? if so, would it require special cutters?

thanks for your help.

I buy my Al & brass HERE:
http://www.midlandxpressmetals.com/

For Delrin, if you need just the most common sizes, I get mine from Enco If you need odd shapes or uncommon dimensions, you will have to go to some place like http://www.tapplastics.com/

You can do titanium on the lathe, but don't expect perfect results. Use slow rotation, super light feed and lots of coolant/lube. Carbide tip tools will do the cutting OK, although so far what I have done is leaves a kind of rough & grainy finish. McGizmo could probably give us both some tips in this respect.

Practice a lot on other metals before you spend any money on Ti.

Rothrandir,

You might just consider a trip to the QCA here. Milan Surplus (by the Moline airport) has a good selection of aluminum rod stock from 1/4" to 3" diameter, cut to any length you want. Also, Harbor Freight has a store in Davenport (near North Park Mall) that you can go broke walking through. (Hint - lathe cutting tools are not by the lathes, but up front by the registers in the glass cases).

Harbor Fright huh? I assume you've got a 7 X10? You could have gotten a Homier for $299 but don't sweat it. It's a little bigger too, 7 x12, minus a few accessories, but its the same machine.
For flashlight making it's about the right size but for anything else the darn thing is not big enough. A 9X20 is just right.

Like Silviron says, you can do Ti but get some experience on AL first. I use carbide and set the sppeds and feeds correct. Light cuts and choose your alloy carefully. Study up, there are lots of things to learn about materials and other stuff if you want to be a good machinist. See if you can find a "REM" center near you for cheap raw stock.

Now you'll need a mini mill to really go nuts, I suggest the Homier also. The Grizzly is good too.
MicoMark is also a great place for small tooling of all kinds if you're into hobby machining. Good luck and just ask if you need anything, I've been around the minis for a long time even though I now have a Emco (not Enco) Maximat 11 from Germany. The Rolls Royce of small lathes, it's a real nice machine.

thanks guys.

i think for this first one, i'm just going to use online metals, because i can get al, copper, and delrin from one place.

thanks lambda, i'll have to get out there sometime, i didn't realize tose places existed. it sure would be nice to see the stuff in person...
maybe during spring break i can make the couple hour trip.

anyway, i think the 2011 is probably better than the 6061???

gman, yes it is the 7 x 10. i have never heard of the homier... 7x12 would have been nice though...
i ordered some cutters (along with digi-calipers and a chuck and wire strippers) from hf on sunday.
the cutters were these ones.
(looks like i ordered the lathe just in time, it was 329, now it is 369)

2011 is an aircraft alloy and has a high copper content. Makes it a bear to GTAW if you ever need to do that. I would stick with 6061, it machines well and is easy to anodize. MicoMark and Little machine Shop sells a conversion kit to make the dials true inch dials, be careful because as they come on the Harbor, they're not.
The cutters you ordered will be a problem, they are 1/4 inch shanks. The lathe needs 5/16 as I recall. You'll need to shim them. Best to get an adjustable tool post from LMS or use HSS 5/16 cutters. You ain't a machinist until you learn to grind your own bits. ;-) Good luck and remember: Measure twice, cut once. Measure once, cut twice. ;-)

The Harbor Freight lathe IS true inch- They changed over a year or two ago. I think the Grizzly and Homier still are metric, and not sure about the Enco, although I think they converted to inch too.

thanks gman, i was afraid they might not work, but they linked directly from the lathe page, so i figured they would

i would love to grind my own...but i don't have a grinder.

eventually, i will be looking for some center drills, 5/16 tools (threading, parting, and whatever is normal), also boring bars would be nice.

as of right now, i have $6...

Silviron, thanx for the correction. It's been awhile since I've been around these things. I know my older Homier is not true inch and uses 3/8 bits. I understand the new ones use 5/16 so I could be wrong about the bit size for the current HFs too. Funny how 5/16 shanked carbide stuff is so scarce. I use a TKS tool post and 3/8 tooling made by Nicole. As you know, the lathe is only the tip of the iceberg, tooling costs will eat you alive ;-)

No, the Harbor still uses the 5/16 tool bits, so you are correct about that- Roth will have to use shims, but I told him that in a previous thread anyway.

Enco has a pretty good selection of 5/16 tooling, although the quality is... well, enco quality...

i've realized that already

yes, i can't find a source for 5/16 cutters with other stuff i need. i don't want to pay an extra $8-12 just for shipping on one thing...

basically, as soon as i can pull of my next bank job, i'm going to want center drills, 5/16 cutters, boring bars (as if i'm not boring enough already ). also, what would be required for me to cut a reflector...one kind of like the mcflood. i realize i don't at this point have the skill, but by the end of the week...

HA! If you want to cut a reflector that is precisely designed like a Surefire (I'm not familiar with the Mcflood) you don't have a machine to do that. Better to buy one from Carley or from a dead surefire bulb.

If you just need a general elipsoid or parabolic reflecter with no particular focusing you can do that on yours, I did a couple just playing around. Just cut the rough shape with whatever tooling works, then refine it with sandpaper, and polish it with a felt bob & tripoli then rouge with a Dremel or flex shaft.

WHAT! You don't have a Dremel??? Get your Mom (or girlfriend

)to buy you one at Wal-Mart for Valentines day.

yes, i have a dremel. (well, actually it is more like a spinning sucker holder) but it works well enough for $20.

what was that ha about? don't you think i will be a pro by the end of the week?

All the best Roth, you have my best wishes... I'll hope to see some stuff from you by the end of the week, prolly around or better than Mclux quality. Don't forget the bead blasting and the hard anodizing. I've very high expectations of you Roth!

thanks nerd, that was really motivating!

you have made me decide to get rid of my puny mini-lathe (anybody want it?) and purchase a plasma cnc machine. is 11 axis enough? i was wondering what kind of silver/platinum bodies you want your mcjimbo 35 5w ls lights to be? estimated cost per light is determined to be at or around $2.5 million, limit 1 per customer.

but of course if there isn't enough demand, i may just have to stick with what i've got now...

materials etc., are at McMaster Carr
this is a very big source for raw materials and many many other items.

my gosh mc! 400,000 items!

i'm heading out right now, but when i get back i will take a couple hours to look it over

Oh yes, McMaster Carr. Good choice, I forgot all about them. *Lots* of goodies there! Good website but unless they send it to a business just try to get a catalog outta them. Lots of goodies though....