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How do you cut a notch in the end of bar stock?
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 10:27 am
by MikeHutchison
There are all kinds of applications (knee levers, bell cranks, etc.) that require this sort of a cut:
to be made in the end of a piece of bar stock. The dimensions need to be precise and the insides of the cut smooth so that another piece can be inserted and can hinge freely in the joint.
Short of having a milling machine, how do you make these kind of parts?
Re: How do you cut a notch in the end of bar stock?
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:12 pm
by Bent
Mike if you are handy with a band saw and flat file, use that. NOT recommended! I have never been able to file a flat surface.
What I used for my first couple of steels was my table saw. The big secret here is to get the workpiece fastened securely enough so you are sure it stays put. and then take small cuts.
Here I am using an old tenoning jig that I head made years ago for cutting wood tenons. It slides in the tracks on your saw table.
- Z-setup~halfcut.jpg (39.63 KiB) Viewed 1895 times
This is cutting a 4-hole bell crank. You can see where the part that goes on the cross shaft is already cut and here is where the bellcrank is bolted to the jig. I am about half done cutting the 1/8" slot in the middle of the leg where the collar and pull rod goes through. I am using a good quality dado set, in this case only one blade 1/8" wide is used. I cut 3/32" deep at a time. Don't get greedy and the saw will thank you for it and walk through it like butter. Push slow but steady..get your own speed and comfort level worked up as you advance.
To cut the 3/8" cutout for the legs that go on to the 3/8" cross shaft, I had the bell crank material lying flat and secured in another jig made for that purpose. I used a dado set totaling 3/8" width of cut. Here, I took only 1/32" deep cut at a time. This is a safe method but I must emphasize again: MAke sure the piece is fastened down very securely and take shallow cuts.
- Z-tighten.jpg (46.53 KiB) Viewed 1895 times
Re: How do you cut a notch in the end of bar stock?
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:41 pm
by azureskys
best way to do that is on the mill, if you dont have a mill id suggest a bandsaw then file it to the size you want
Re: How do you cut a notch in the end of bar stock?
Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 11:53 am
by Dave-M
azureskys wrote:best way to do that is on the mill, if you dont have a mill id suggest a bandsaw then file it to the size you want
You could use a drill of the correct size at the furthest point in, before using the bandsaw, to take out the excess chunk prior to filing.