Hi group,
My plan is to make a steel mold. I want to take a 2 inch bar, cut a 1 inch deep, 1 inch wide, 14 inch long rectangle cavity into it and then bolt on a second 3/4 inch steel plate to that face. This will serve as a mold for me to pour molten aluminum into to make new machining stock.
I have cut so much brass and aluminum in the past that I have 5 gallon buckets filled with chips. In addition to machining, I do allot of casting. So naturally I would rather melt down the chips and mold them into 1X1 stock to machine on my mill. I have NEVER cut steel on my Taig (except a few runs into the vise!
). I don't have a coolant system so Im looking for your suggestions about how to address the heat and maybe a few feed speed suggestions. Can this even be done at all on this machine?
I don't know what kind of steel it is. I got it from the shop at my job.
thanks!
Mike