Cutting flat brass bar
- Thread starter COWS
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
AES
Established Member
Wot 'ee said - Tom above! Easy peasy
Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
An edge sander or even a disc sander if you have them. Very coarse grit to begin with switching to finer as you go.
Whatcha making?
Pete
Whatcha making?
Pete
Making a couple of brass bar handles for some units. I've got a workshop full of tools and machinery for joinery, but cutting a bit of brass has me scratching my head lol. I'm guessing on it's slowest setting my bandsaw for wood is too fast? Not sure I fancy the hacksaw route.
sawtooth-9
Established Member
If you are making brass bar handles, you are not looking for total precision.
Easiest route, is to mark the curve and use a disc sander.
You will be really surprised how easy it is to get a good smooth curve - just do it gently and slow.
I have done some very accurate curves on the disc sander by making a simple radius jig - but you will not need to go that far.
Easiest route, is to mark the curve and use a disc sander.
You will be really surprised how easy it is to get a good smooth curve - just do it gently and slow.
I have done some very accurate curves on the disc sander by making a simple radius jig - but you will not need to go that far.
Here's a pic of what I'm doing. Quite a bit of material to remove with a sander. The bow doesn't actually look too bad here. I took it to my local shed to see what equipment I could use there but nothing I don't have already. We did manage to straighten it well enough for it to sit down in its groove ok. I'll have another go on the r/h side.
Its something I might end up doing a bit of so is there a recommendation for a small metal working bandsaw?
Thanks guys.
Its something I might end up doing a bit of so is there a recommendation for a small metal working bandsaw?
Thanks guys.
AES
Established Member
Sorry COWS, but "not fancying the idea of the hack saw route" really IS making a mountain out of a molehill! If I lived anywhere near you I'd say bring it round, I'll do that for you in 15 mins. Honest. 10 mins with the hack saw and another 5 with a decent file or two. MAX.
BTW, that drawer front really does look the dog's doo dahs. So you'll need a nice finish on the brass to match that workmanship. But buying a band saw, just to do a simple little job like that?`?????? No "economic sense" in that IMO!
Ah the picture helps. For a small bandsaw you’d be looking at a portaband and something like a swag table to mount it. A fair chunk of change needed.
If you were feeling brave a well jigged set up and templates could work with a router dialled to low and tooling designed for aluminium. Would be a bit sketchy though.
A small milking machine with a slitting saw could work too- would end up a similar cost to the bandsaw route but be more versatile
You could get a belt linisher and rough them out then clean up with a file. Wouldn’t be a pleasant job though.
Hacksaw and file wouldn’t be too bad, with a coarse blade and decent files it’ll be fairly quick going. Would need some safe jaws for the vice to avoid marring it.
If you were feeling brave a well jigged set up and templates could work with a router dialled to low and tooling designed for aluminium. Would be a bit sketchy though.
A small milking machine with a slitting saw could work too- would end up a similar cost to the bandsaw route but be more versatile
You could get a belt linisher and rough them out then clean up with a file. Wouldn’t be a pleasant job though.
Hacksaw and file wouldn’t be too bad, with a coarse blade and decent files it’ll be fairly quick going. Would need some safe jaws for the vice to avoid marring it.
If it were aluminium, I'd make a template and edge rout it.
I've never tried to rout brass but I bet you could !
Those tools for welders that bevel the edge of steel sheet are essentially routers, so yes, I'm persuading myself that brass could be done with care.
Turn down the speed and take many light passes keeping good control.
You never know until you try ....
I've never tried to rout brass but I bet you could !
Those tools for welders that bevel the edge of steel sheet are essentially routers, so yes, I'm persuading myself that brass could be done with care.
Turn down the speed and take many light passes keeping good control.
You never know until you try ....
Funny you should say that... my wife and I were discussing visiting Switzerland yesterday. 'Id bring them over but need to get them done before any holidaying.
I'll take your advice and give it a go. Even just to remove the bulk. I have a sanding machine that can shape it a bit and finish by hand.
I've bevelled and grooved brass bar before and it machines ok. I don't have any spare so reluctant to try routing that shape on what I have. No doubt I'll do something similar soon so may try that way next time.
AES
Established Member
If you're really worried about doing that job with hack saw & files, have a look in the Metal Working section where there are a couple of stickies by me, one all about filing, and one about hack sawing. Both are long posts, but if you page through those you'll find bits on "how to do it". With the skills that your drawer front display, you'll have NO trouble producing excellent results, and quickly (!) with no more expenditure than a bit of elbow grease! Really
MARK.B.
Established Member
Angle grinder to remove the bulk and finish with a file/sander.
Thank you for your kind words AES, I'm very fussy on my quality and don't set timescales on my pieces in hope to get somewhere near 100%. I never get there but I get close.
I posted in hope to get advice from someone who knows and I thank you for aiming me in the right direction. I'll have a read of your posts and take on board what I can. I have some design ideas that include some aluminium and brass so will probably need some guidance in the near future.
AES
Established Member
stuart little
Established Member
Brass swarfe from a mill is VERY messy - gets everywhere, same with ally. For what it is brass is quite hard. I'd say hacksaw ? bandsaw (if avaiable) & elecric 'file'.
AES
Established Member
Sorry stuart, but I MUST disagree with you - vehemently. I don't know if you own, or have ever used an electric "file"? I have and own a B&D example. It does have its uses, but "filing" is NOT one of them - NOT if you want any degree of accuracy and a smooth surface free of scratches that is. In short, that tool is absolutely "mis-named"! The "real ones" are mainly used in places like car body shops.
Brass is NOT all that hard (depends what you compare it with I guess) but as COWS clearly wants a smooth "high class" finish I can assure you from personal experience that it's MUCH easier to put a scratch/es into brass, but VERY VERY much harder to take it/them out again!
The "only" way to get the sort of finish on brass that COWS wants - after hack sawing to approx profile - is to use a smooth hand file, paying especial attention to clearing swarf from the file after every few strokes. Then finish off with VERY smooth wet & dry - 600 and higher - on a sanding block. Then polish on a buffing wheel lightly loaded with compound.
The buffing wheel is the ONLY power tool needed - OR which should be considered IME. (And BTW, that can be a simple cotton mop wheel, if necessary held in a power drill on a stand if no proper buffing wheel is available).
But "electric file"? Nah, sorry.
As I said in a previous post on this thread, about 15 mins work - MAX. But let's double that because it seems that COWS has little experience of using hack saws and files, so needs a bit of practice first. But he does already have the necessary "skill of hand" as his "wood workmanship" clearly shows in the pic he posted up above somewhere.
Some more pics of my progress on this. First and 2nd pic shows the brass bowing using a hacksaw. The same amount as it did with a bandsaw. Easy enough to cut though. 3rd pic shows as straight as I can get it. Still a 1.2mm bow but might get away with this. But would like to know ho to avoid or rectify this in future. @AES I've read part 1 of you sticky which is very informative, so thanks for the teachings.
I've put a radius on the front edge and finished up to 240 atm. Will go to 320 and leave it for a brushed finish. It's getting there.
I've put a radius on the front edge and finished up to 240 atm. Will go to 320 and leave it for a brushed finish. It's getting there.
AES
Established Member
IMO, that's v good work COWS. I'm not a fan of "I told yer so", but it IS dead easy to cut with a hack saw isn't it? And you've kept well to the line, well done Sir.
Re the bowing, I'm NOT sure. Depending on exactly how "fine" you want the finish, you could try 2 separate approaches:
1. "Anneal" the brass. That means heat it up to bright red then let it cool slowly back down to room temperature - NO water quenching. It will then be "very" (!) soft (depends on exactly what brass it is) but you MAY also set up some 'orrible "stains" in the metal which could - note the "could" please - be very hard to remove, POSSIBLY leaving some almost indelible marks in the metal which will mar your "high gloss" finish. If you're "only" going for a "brushed ali" finish, it SHOULD be OK, but sorry, I cannot guarantee anything. And it would be a pity to spoil such nice woodwork with a sub-standard looking bit of brass. Best would be to practice on a bit of scrap IF you have a piece of the same material available.
2. "Just" try and straighten it by hand, just like you've probably had to do in the past with a piece of stiff wire which got kinked. The basic procedure is eyeball it, decide where the worst part of the bend/s is/are, then bend it gently against the edge of the bench or a nice smooth large dia steel rod set up vertical in the vice. You need to take it steady, using the tips of your fingers, and with a bit of "gentility" in your finger tips you should be able to feel a slight "give" as the strip moves just beyond the natural curve it's set up during your shaping (just FYI, metals, especially those worked into flat strips like yours, DO have a "grain" a bit like wood). At any event, you'll have to bend that first bit a little beyond it's natural spring back point. How much to bend beyond I don't know, it's purely a matter of "suck it and see", sorry. Having more or less got rid of the first/worst curve (you may have to come back to it later), it's back to the Mark I eyeball to find the next worst bend. Then the next and then the next, then the one after that, all along the length - and so on, almost ad infinitum! It IS a procedure which takes time, and it certainly needs "feel", but provided you don't graunch your shaped piece of brass on the bench or something it can be done without risk of marring the look of the finished piece. BTW, the above (both) will work fine whether the bends are in the horizontal or vertical planes.
If you haven't tried something like that before I suggest you practice. Get a piece of thick mains electrical cable (for example), strip the bare copper earth out of it, cut about a 2 foot length and bend that up a bit. Then practice getting all the bends and kinks out of it so that when done, it will roll evenly along a table top.
Best of luck mate. You're doing great so far.
P.S. Glad you found the "Files and Filing" and/or the "Hack Saws" stuff of value.
