Doing finger notch/grooves on hardened steel

Ban

Ban

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I am having a hard time trying to put some finger notches/grooves on the thumb ramp of some hardened steel. A standard file just skips right over. A diamond file is extremely slow. A cutoff wheel on a dremel is fast but is hard to keep the cutouts parallel.

Someone please help! I am stumped :(

So how do the pros do it?
 
Ban said:
A cutoff wheel on a dremel is fast but is hard to keep the cutouts parallel.
Click to expand...

This is my method. I usualy dychem blue the area first and scribe some lines as a guide. Try on a piece of scrap material first to get your spacing correct. A small triangular file can help even out your grooves a little.

Good luck!
Scott
 
The Pros do it before the steel is hardened.
Stick with the cut off wheels, They are your best bet.
Thanks,
Del
 
Sometimes a customer wants them added later Delbert, so doing it before the steel is hardened really isn't an option. Lots of Pro's do upgrades and modifications, by the way.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

Annealing is not an option for me. So I guess a cutoff wheel it is.

Scott,

I will give your method a shot :thumbup:
 
You can buy carbide cutters 3/16" and 1/4 that will do a good job on cutting hardened metal if you have a rotary tool to take that size of a bit. They are not expensive and even often available at auto parts - tool stores. Frank
 
Scott,

I just tried your method a few minutes ago and it helped alot! The dykem made making the parallel cuts alot easier. The notches are not perfect but they are good enough. Sure as hell alot better than my first attempt :D
 
Hi Ban,
Nice work bro. Try the triangular file if you have one. It can help touch up the grooves and even them up a little. Although the steel is hard, the file is harder and will cut-a little. Wrapping the file in one layer of emery cloth will help polish up the grooves too.
Congrats!
Scott
 
If you look around a little bit there are several different thickness cut off wheels available for dremels also, so you can have different width grooves.
I like the bigger fiber reinforced wheels for general cutting, but the thin little 3/4" or so discs give the finest line. I have also picked up some medium duty wheels here and there that fall in between the two. Dremel makes a cutting kit that will include an assortment of the different types so you can try them all.
I've also found that its usually better to run the tool on its slowest speed for detail type work. There are special engraving tools that run over 100,000 rpm which supposedly gives better control, but in the dremel range of speeds the bottom end seems to be best. The wheels last longer and don't kick as hard if you bind them a little bit.
 
Just a word of caution here, in my experience the carbide cutters skip like crazy on hardened steel. Take care when cutting, don't want to hurt the knife... or yourself.

Frank Niro said:
You can buy carbide cutters 3/16" and 1/4 that will do a good job on cutting hardened metal if you have a rotary tool to take that size of a bit. They are not expensive and even often available at auto parts - tool stores. Frank
Click to expand...
 
What about shallow cuts in a cut off saw. You get varying thicknesses of cutting discs and 'worn' ones will give you a more rounded profile.
 
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