Aluminium Box Joint
Aluminium Box Joint
(OP)
Hi
I need to produce some high spec cabinets with a box joint on the ends of large sheets of 10mm thick aluminium 6082 T6 tooling plate , the sheet sizes range from 400 w x 2500mm long to 800 w x 3000mm long . I have attached a picture of a sample cabinet we produced which was milled on a Bridgeport type bed mill layed flat ( as the sheet is too wide to stand up ) with 90 degree head to produce the slots .The client loves what we have done & we now have to produce loads of cabinets so we need a better & quicker way to produce these joints. The joints themselves need to be very precise i.e maximum of 0.1 mm clearance in the fit , I believe the sample we made was 0.05mm clearance & we used grooved pins inserted to give the actual strength in the joint which is we would look to do in the new cabinets as well.
I was wondering if there was either a better technique or more suitable machine to do these on ( maybe even an aluminium extrusion processing machine ?).All faces need to be brushed finish which we can get the flat faces done by a sub-contractor after they are notched but the ends & sides would need to be done by ourselves prior to sending to polishers. For this reason I have steered away from waterjet as it would leave a fluffy edge & I would be worried that the box joint fix might not be accurate enough.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
I need to produce some high spec cabinets with a box joint on the ends of large sheets of 10mm thick aluminium 6082 T6 tooling plate , the sheet sizes range from 400 w x 2500mm long to 800 w x 3000mm long . I have attached a picture of a sample cabinet we produced which was milled on a Bridgeport type bed mill layed flat ( as the sheet is too wide to stand up ) with 90 degree head to produce the slots .The client loves what we have done & we now have to produce loads of cabinets so we need a better & quicker way to produce these joints. The joints themselves need to be very precise i.e maximum of 0.1 mm clearance in the fit , I believe the sample we made was 0.05mm clearance & we used grooved pins inserted to give the actual strength in the joint which is we would look to do in the new cabinets as well.
I was wondering if there was either a better technique or more suitable machine to do these on ( maybe even an aluminium extrusion processing machine ?).All faces need to be brushed finish which we can get the flat faces done by a sub-contractor after they are notched but the ends & sides would need to be done by ourselves prior to sending to polishers. For this reason I have steered away from waterjet as it would leave a fluffy edge & I would be worried that the box joint fix might not be accurate enough.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
RE: Aluminium Box Joint
RE: Aluminium Box Joint
If you're seeing sufficient quantities, it may pay off to have it outsourced to a machine shop with a horizontal mill that run a stack of them at a time. It should be a reasonably cheap endeavor for any respectable shop.
I would steer away from waterjet because any kerf variance due to the 'v-shaped cut' of a laser/waterjet/torch would be very quickly apparent on the joints. It won't make /perfectly/ square cuts.
_________________________________________
NX8.0, Solidworks 2014, AutoCAD, Enovia V5
RE: Aluminium Box Joint
JNieman - I will look into local horizontal millers or EDM process . As some of the panels have slots , holes recesses in them on the flat faces to suit shelves etc , in my mind its like you need a big cnc Router/ Bridge miller to do all this . But as far as I can see this type of machine will not be able to do the end notches etc , so this is where I become unstuck . Maybe its not possible to do all processes on the one machine ?
I will be able to upload a cad file soon for clarity on the detail.
RE: Aluminium Box Joint
I would just send the part out for quote to shops and see what they quote back - let them handle the process. That's what they're for. There's no reason to expect a part to be done in one setup. There's nothing wrong with doing it in two, either.
Based on what I know, though, with the experience I've had; I would do it in two machines. I would clamp stacks of them together to do the end-notching, and do the slots and pockets with many laid flat on a large tabled vertical mill. That is, unless someone has a horizontal that can swing 3000mm parts and still do end work on them. Anyways, let the shop figure out how to make it.
_________________________________________
NX8.0, Solidworks 2014, AutoCAD, Enovia V5
RE: Aluminium Box Joint
RE: Aluminium Box Joint
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Aluminium Box Joint
hendersdc - I did think about broaching but was concerned about the finish & the slot breaking out , I suppose as long as you make a backing piece this would sort the breaking out problem
MikeHalloran - I will try the routing process , it was something I toyed with as it would be a lot easier to do rather than the setup you would have on the mill.
Watch this space to see how I get on ...
RE: Aluminium Box Joint
... or just use a spiral fluted milling cutter.
That will give you a better finish and less impact damage (to your hands, the cutter, and the workpiece) than a straight fluted cutter, and will help clear the chips from the cut.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Aluminium Box Joint
actually having these rough cut by water jet then do the final machining as Mike specified might be an option. have the waterjet leave approx. .060 inches stock
then finish it with a router.
HTH
Mfgenggear
RE: Aluminium Box Joint
The dovetails will have an internal radius which you can trim out of the corners using Mike Halloran's method. If you use a large enough machine you can throw the whole sheet onto the machine and nest the parts.
B.E.
You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.