Cutting Brass Tube Cleanly

[Inspector]

In an ideal shop with you having a big bag of money you would get a CNC lathe with a bar feeder. It will self feed the brass tube, turn the outside, chamfer the inside and outside edges, clamp on the end and part it to length and chamfer the inside and outside of that end and advance the stock for the next. It would also change over to the next size tube for a different part as needed and so on. Sadly you don't have the volume of work to justify one.

The old way of doing the same would be with a turret lathe. Tube fed into the headstock and held with a collet chuck, the various tools used and advanced manually to the next in a turret at the tailstock end until the piece is parted off and the cycle begins again. The parted off pieces would need that inside edge de-burred in a separate operation. These older lathes are available at an affordable price but naturally more than hobby metal lathes are. You'll need to look for the right one at a place that specializes in older machines. You might need to get an older machinist to set it up and teach you to run it or just come in when needed for a few hours to make the pieces for you. Switching over to a different sized part doesn't take much time to remove the tools and replace them with the preset ones that are needed once the initial setup of the tools is done. You can make small batches or run the same part for years on each lathe. Just depends on your needs. It wouldn't be any noisier than the woodworking machines you have now but you would want to house it in a separate room to keep the dust off it.

Pete

 

[TheTiddles]

I think you need to find a machine shop with a bar feeder lathe, they can bang that kind of thing out for you very effectively

Aidan

 

[Pabs]

stick some sandpaper on the side of the mitre saw so that it cuts and deburrs at the same time.

 

[Homeless Squirrel]

Looks like Unto This Last has made there last and disappeared into sawdust! As gone ***'s up!.

 

[Pabs]

Just seen that hadn't realised. Apologies

 

[mwinfrance]

Oh, and I was just about to suggest laser, smallish one in their shop with the ability to cut tubes.spray dark paint on tube, cut tube, wipe off paint.job done.

 

[sawtooth-9]

If I had to do this, the issue, as I see it < is the thin wall section.
I would make a mandrel with a shoulder at the tailstock end - this would define the length.
The headstock end of the mandrel would have a recess cut with a 1 mm parting tool.
Leave the headstock clamped tight , slide the brass tube onto the mandrel and use the parting tool to cut the brass tube.
That would leave a "clean" cut.
Cut at a fast speed with slow feed.
It would take about 1 minute a piece, quiet and clean. Also does not require a large or special lathe

 

[Fergie 307]

I have done this with copper pipe using a bandsaw, where I didn't need the slight distortion you get with a tube cutter. If you have an appropriate fine blade you will get a very clean cut and will only take seconds to remove the sharp edge by hand with emery cloth. A metal cutting bandsaw will be much cheaper than a lathe, and can accept any size piece up to its capacity. It is also reasonably quiet. You can set the fence to give repeatability. I have just bought a sheppach portable/bench mounted one and it is very good, apart from the vice which is poorly designed. The other machine I have is a Kity 612. This is a wood saw and I have changed the pulleys on mine so it runs at a slower speed suitable for metal, this may not be possible for you to do easily. There are plenty of manufacturers who make upright band saws specifically for metal. These are probably better, and certainly quieter, for what you are doing than the chop style ones. I bought the Sheppach because it's readily portable.

 

[Homeless Squirrel]

If I had to do this, the issue, as I see it < is the thin wall section.
I would make a mandrel with a shoulder at the tailstock end - this would define the length.
The headstock end of the mandrel would have a recess cut with a 1 mm parting tool.
Leave the headstock clamped tight , slide the brass tube onto the mandrel and use the parting tool to cut the brass tube.
That would leave a "clean" cut.
Cut at a fast speed with slow feed.
It would take about 1 minute a piece, quiet and clean. Also does not require a large or special lathe

I have done this with copper pipe using a bandsaw, where I didn't need the slight distortion you get with a tube cutter. If you have an appropriate fine blade you will get a very clean cut and will only take seconds to remove the sharp edge by hand with emery cloth. A metal cutting bandsaw will be much cheaper than a lathe, and can accept any size piece up to its capacity. It is also reasonably quiet. You can set the fence to give repeatability. I have just bought a sheppach portable/bench mounted one and it is very good, apart from the vice which is poorly designed. The other machine I have is a Kity 612. This is a wood saw and I have changed the pulleys on mine so it runs at a slower speed suitable for metal, this may not be possible for you to do easily. There are plenty of manufacturers who make upright band saws specifically for metal. These are probably better, and certainly quieter, for what you are doing than the chop style ones. I bought the Sheppach because it's readily portable.

Well you'd better Holler a lot louder as OP hasn't been on here since Business folded/went **** up!

 

[Fergie 307]

Fair comment hadnt noticed the date