Machining the prop notches in aluminum s

OK! Who has a good(?) way to file, cut, machine, (whatever) the prop notches in aluminum spinners? Filing takes forever, and leaves me in danger of slipping and scratching the surface of the spinner...Dremmeling (is that a word?) with the Robart grinders fills up the tool almost immediately, and cannot be cleaned... Let's hear something really great that "dummo" here never thought of!

Hmm... I have a little jig I made up that holds the spinner in place and just rout the thing out using a small burr in a rotary grinder. The local tool place has an assortment of varous shapes that work fine. I use a bit of aluminum tapping fluid to lube the thing so the bit of aluminum don't get irrevocably lodged in the burr.

A steel burr in my flex shaft works great I use an oval one or a drum shaped one . A round one is harder to keep on target. I tend to use a lot of tools left over from when I was a jeweller. Keith V

Keith,

Yea, the ones I use are mostly barrel shaped with a round end. Flat on the sides. I has a couple of them and they are carbide jobs. As I noted, they work fine with a bit of lube.

> A steel burr in my flex shaft works great I use an oval one
>or a drum shaped one . A round one is harder to keep on
>target. I tend to use a lot of tools left over from when I
>was a jeweller. Keith V

Keith,

I had one of those once but I'm feeling much better now.

>> A steel burr in my flex shaft works great I use an oval one
>>or a drum shaped one . A round one is harder to keep on
>>target. I tend to use a lot of tools left over from when I
>>was a jeweller. Keith V
>
>Keith,
>
>I had one of those once but I'm feeling much better now.
>
>
>Dave

I confess to having had the same problem once many years ago- cleared up after a few days though...

Jake

Pills or a shot works too!

scott(ask any Canadain)Riese

The aluminum is soft, whether machined (probably 6061T6), cast or spun, and will tend to clog up any kind of cutter, or file, for that matter. About any kind of oil will help, wax, soap, detergent, kerosene, about anything. Dry is bad, even for filing. Steve

We do alot of specialized aluminum machining in our CNC dept. other than water-based cutting fluids, WD-40 in a spray bottle works very well and most already have it around.

Ward,
Ol' friend, ol' pal, ol' Buddy!
I use the burrs in the dremel, when I get one side right I copy it on file folder and transfer it to the other side.
As for the clogging, try submerging the cutter in vinegar for a day or so. Don't leave it for too long. That is an old way of cleaning files (if you didn't already know that) and it will eventually eat the file. I left some for over a week, and it messed up the files. A day or two should work. Worth a try.
Bill <><

Lube and Vinegar. OK, Thanks guys. See, I knew the answer would be dum! Specially since I didn't think of it!!!!!!

It's the ascetic (sp?) acid that does it. This is one reason you don't want to drink fruit juices packed in aluminum cans- as even though most are plastic coated (inside) the aluminum will eventually disolve through tiny scratches and etc. and it sure is not in any way good for you to ingest.

If the fouling is aluminum, try using lye. It'll dissolve aluminum. Releases hydrogen, so you might want to do it out of doors.