Steel contamination
Steel contamination
(OP)
I hope this is the correct place to direct this question and I am sorry if it is not.
I build steel bicycles and one of the problems we have is mitering the thin wall tubing. I would like to try to use abrasive diamond cutters to miter the tubes as opposed to a metal hole saw to avoid chatter and get a more precise cut. I was told by a machinist that this is a bad idea because the steel is "carbon hungry" and will "absorb" carbon from the diamond cutter and weaken the area when it is then welded to the adjacent tube.
Is this a legitament concern?
Thanks in advance for any help, Ted
I build steel bicycles and one of the problems we have is mitering the thin wall tubing. I would like to try to use abrasive diamond cutters to miter the tubes as opposed to a metal hole saw to avoid chatter and get a more precise cut. I was told by a machinist that this is a bad idea because the steel is "carbon hungry" and will "absorb" carbon from the diamond cutter and weaken the area when it is then welded to the adjacent tube.
Is this a legitament concern?
Thanks in advance for any help, Ted





RE: Steel contamination
RE: Steel contamination
I use a good bit of 4130 with wall thickness of 0.024,0.035 and 0.049. These aren't too bad but some of the specialty alloys like reynolds 853 at 0.7 and 0.8mm, they are soo tough that the teeth simply break off of a bimetal hole saw. I recently tried an annular cutter but the teeth seem too agressive for the thin wall material I am using, it actually "snagged" the tube, breaking the cutter and bending up the tube.
My other concern is getting a precise cut. If the miters are not precise the tig welding becomes difficult
Anyway thanks for the tip, I will give one a whirl tomorrow.
RE: Steel contamination
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Plymouth Tube
RE: Steel contamination
That's how it was when Reynolds went from 531 to 853 years ago. They wanted to make sure you could braze it w/o overheating it and killing the strength in the HAZs.
Gold is for the mistress - silver for the maid
Copper for the craftsman cunning in his trade.
"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall
But iron - cold iron is the master of them all.
Rudyard Kipling