need bridgeport "basics" advice

I would cut that out with my portaband. I rarely use my plasma cutter anymore for knives. If i was making templates and cutting multiples I would use my plasma, but I have a laser at work so I don't do that.
 
i band saw close then use older belts to profile and start the bevel or any hard angle that needs cut in on the blade cause it will flat oout kill a new belt in no time
 
I use worn out 36 grit blaze belts to profile. I have two metal cutting band saws but can profile faster with the worn out 36 grit belts and save my bandsaw blades for other uses.
 
I'd never try to draw a knife blank on an etch a sketch, let alone profile one on a mill. In knife making the mill has its place, but I do not see its place in profiling a blade.
 
I don't think anyone was talking about profiling on the mill. He was just setting his shoulders square which a mill is great for.
 
kuraki said:
I don't think anyone was talking about profiling on the mill. He was just setting his shoulders square which a mill is great for.
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I did mention "moving left or right to profile" but it was poor wording. I just wanted to see if I could take off some meat to save on my belts. But, alas I took it to the grinder and cranked up the speed, went ok on an older 36
 
One more word of advice for milling shoulders like you were attempting. When you plunge cut with a center cutting endmill, especially an HSS endmill, it will wobble and flex as you cut. Meaning a .25 em will cut an over size hole. So if you're going to plunge in at your shoulder radii, and then mill out, start away from where your shoulder about .020 or .030". Plunge in, mill your slots, then feed up to where your shoulder is going to be and mill back towards your radius. If I started .030 away, I would mill that shoulder in 3 steps. The first plunge and rough cut, then a .025" depth side cut, and a .005" finish side cut. Do this on both sides and you will have nice straight flat shoulders that lie in the same plane and have a good surface finish.
 
kuraki said:
One more word of advice for milling shoulders like you were attempting. When you plunge cut with a center cutting endmill, especially an HSS endmill, it will wobble and flex as you cut. Meaning a .25 em will cut an over size hole. So if you're going to plunge in at your shoulder radii, and then mill out, start away from where your shoulder about .020 or .030". Plunge in, mill your slots, then feed up to where your shoulder is going to be and mill back towards your radius. If I started .030 away, I would mill that shoulder in 3 steps. The first plunge and rough cut, then a .025" depth side cut, and a .005" finish side cut. Do this on both sides and you will have nice straight flat shoulders that lie in the same plane and have a good surface finish.
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Thanks!!
 
Oh, if you can, get both sides of the tang to the point where you're going to take the last .005" pass and then feed in your .005", lock the table in the X axis, mill one side of the shoulder, pull the quill up to jump over the tang and mill the other side of the shoulder, without moving the table. That will get you the best coplanar relationship especially on an older machine.
 
kuraki said:
Oh, if you can, get both sides of the tang to the point where you're going to take the last .005" pass and then feed in your .005", lock the table in the X axis, mill one side of the shoulder, pull the quill up to jump over the tang and mill the other side of the shoulder, without moving the table. That will get you the best coplanar relationship especially on an older machine.
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That's kinda what I did except I did not think of locking the table. Thanks again.
 
FWIW, I've watched through the Darrel Holland videos by AGI a couple of time for both the bridgeport mill and a southbend lathe, and they are both phenomenal, not matter what kind of machine you have. He goes over most of the basics in a step by step, clear, concise and sensible manner.

Like Salem said, there's a lot of great content on YouTube as well. I follow a lot of machinists' channels, and sometimes it's good to watch even the more advanced stuff just to start getting some ideas of different ways to do things.

A few good channels to check in your spare time:

Clickspring
Metal Tips and Tricks
Ox Tool Co
This Old Tony
Tubalcain (mrpete222)

In the mean time, get some quality drill bits and end mills, and a bottle of moly dee cutting fluid and just practice some basics. Start of slower or lighter than you think you should, and watch your chip color.
 
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