Curved Lockbar Cutout

[Pittknife]

Hi Guys,

So far I have been cutting my lockbars with either a cutoff wheel or a thin slitting saw. It has worked very well but I wanted to add some curvature to the lockbar cutout shape. I know some of the makers do it with cnc and a small end mill. I only have a manual mill and very basic machining knowledge & skill, not enough to do curves manually. Is there any other way to get the curvature besides cnc? Thanks for all the help!

 

[Bob Ohlemann]

Most countoured lockbars are cut by waterjet when the makers have the liners/frames cut. There are a few who do it with tiny endmills in a CNC mill and there are some that are done by EDM. You will drive yourself crazy breaking endmills if you try to cut them manually but, if you have a ton of patience, you could use a rotary table to cut curved lockbars on the mill. I know others have said it doesn't work well but, a scroll saw might be another option; I've not tried it. You would need carbide blades for Ti on a scroll saw.

Bob

 

[Pittknife]

Most countoured lockbars are cut by waterjet when the makers have the liners/frames cut. There are a few who do it with tiny endmills in a CNC mill and there are some that are done by EDM. You will drive yourself crazy breaking endmills if you try to cut them manually but, if you have a ton of patience, you could use a rotary table to cut curved lockbars on the mill. I know others have said it doesn't work well but, a scroll saw might be another option; I've not tried it. You would need carbide blades for Ti on a scroll saw.

Bob

Thanks Bob, that is what I suspected. I'm doing everything by hand, including cutting the blanks on the bandsaw. I won't be waterjetting, edm or cnc, nothing wrong with it, just not my thing.

 

[NeilJBorja]

If you have the patience and the skill, there's always the trusty old jeweler's saw. (Disclaimer: I tried it and I had neither the patience nor the skill).

 

[stezann]

The jeweler's saw...that's the best option for a clean work. Be prepared to break some blades at the beginning, have some spare