milling supper thin material.

[longnho]

I'm newbie. my Customer send me a mill job with the thickness of part is 0.004". instead giving me stock size 0.004" they send me material with thickness is 0.025" and ask me to face it mill to 0.004".
I have no Idea how to machine this. any suggestions will help. thanks a lot

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[Jim Dawson]

What material? What size?

Depending on the material you may be able to glue it down to a flat surface and mill it, but the final thickness of 0.004'' is really thin and this won't be easy.

It might be better to try to find the material in the proper thickness.

[Paul-JB]

No quote.


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[mactec54]

I'm newbie. my Customer send me a mill job with the thickness of part is 0.004". instead giving me stock size 0.004" they send me material with thickness is 0.025" and ask me to face it mill to 0.004".
I have no Idea how to machine this. any suggestions will help. thanks a lot

What is the material they want machined, and how big are the parts

[longnho]

What material? What size?

Depending on the material you may be able to glue it down to a flat surface and mill it, but the final thickness of 0.004'' is really thin and this won't be easy.

It might be better to try to find the material in the proper thickness.

material is Aluminum 6061 - size 2.00"x3.00"x0.024"

- - - Updated - - -

the part is 2*3 (inchese)

[Jim Dawson]

Here is a 6''x50'' roll of 0.004'' aluminum shim stock https://www.mcmaster.com/9708K54/

[mactec54]

material is Aluminum 6061 - size 2.00"x3.00"x0.024"

- - - Updated - - -

the part is 2*3 (inchese)

This company has the 6061 .004" shim stock https://www.spirolshims.com/aluminum.html

[longnho]

thanks all.

[RCaffin]

Your customer is an idiot.
Buy some 4 thou shim stock from ebay and make the parts out of that.
You may find it necessary to sandwich the 4 thou stuff between 2 or 3 mm Al plate if you want neat results, otherwise the edges will be badly torn.
Failing that, laser cut or waterjet.

Cheers
Roger

[longnho]

Your customer is an idiot.
Buy some 4 thou shim stock from ebay and make the parts out of that.
You may find it necessary to sandwich the 4 thou stuff between 2 or 3 mm Al plate if you want neat results, otherwise the edges will be badly torn.
Failing that, laser cut or waterjet.

Cheers
Roger

I have no idea. they said material is Aluminum and sent me SS plate. I called back to confirm and they said part makes by SS.

sandwich part with aluminum is a good option.
thank you for suggestion.

[warrenb]

Your customer is an idiot.
Buy some 4 thou shim stock from ebay and make the parts out of that.
You may find it necessary to sandwich the 4 thou stuff between 2 or 3 mm Al plate if you want neat results, otherwise the edges will be badly torn.
Failing that, laser cut or waterjet.

Cheers
Roger

The customer is always right . If they want .024 faced down, charge accordingly. Let a 100 job become a 1000 job.

However I think they will reconsider when presented with the option.

[longnho]

The customer is always right . If they want .024 faced down, charge accordingly. Let a 100 job become a 1000 job.

However I think they will reconsider when presented with the option.

you are right. customer never wrong. ))

[warrenb]

Holding down would be fun. How would I do that.....

I would probably put a bit of lacquer or water based glue on a flat piece of spoil and press it down like one is gilding something, cut it, the soak it in a solvent to dissolve the glue.

[longnho]

I'm thinking about using glue and hold it down the table with support from some screws. then use 1/8 endmill to slowly face it down to 0.004". ( bigger endmill will break the part)
hope it works.

[RCaffin]

you are right. customer never wrong. ))

Oh, not wrong - just a complete idiot.

I would like to see the results of gluing the stuff down and facing it. My best guess is a shredded mess.

I do machine shim down to about that thinness - but ONLY ever sandwiched.

Cheers
Roger

[Paul-JB]

This keeps getting and better better
You realize SS will be an absolute bear especially if it’s 3xx series. The whole thing about milling down .024 to .004 is whacked.
You are in for bad times. Buy a roll of .004 SS shim stock as suggested, pay someone to laser cut to shape and pass the cost on. Your customer is an idiot or a 20 something newb engineer (cartoonist) don’t follow them down a rat hole.


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[Goemon]

I made some aluminum shims for myself recently. I'd suggest bolting the thin aluminum you plan to face to a thicker (and already flat) piece of aluminum.

Aluminum that thin will just bend out of shape if you try to hold it in a clamp or vacuum table.

You'll have to use coolant and avoid high rpm to avoid melting it.

[deadlykitten]

Here is a 6''x50'' roll of 0.004'' aluminum shim stock https://www.mcmaster.com/9708K54/

nice idea

[longnho]

I made some aluminum shims for myself recently. I'd suggest bolting the thin aluminum you plan to face to a thicker (and already flat) piece of aluminum.

Aluminum that thin will just bend out of shape if you try to hold it in a clamp or vacuum table.

You'll have to use coolant and avoid high rpm to avoid melting it.

thank you for suggestion.

[longnho]

This keeps getting and better better
You realize SS will be an absolute bear especially if it’s 3xx series. The whole thing about milling down .024 to .004 is whacked.
You are in for bad times. Buy a roll of .004 SS shim stock as suggested, pay someone to laser cut to shape and pass the cost on. Your customer is an idiot or a 20 something newb engineer (cartoonist) don’t follow them down a rat hole.


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I told them about that but they still asked me use material they supplied. so face it to the thickness of the part is only one choice