Black Ultem 1000, Machining help??

[SydwazShawn]

Has anyone out there tried stress relieving this stuff? Every cut small or large makes it bow like crazy! I cant keep this stuff flat for the life of me!

[iowajim62]

Been there done that. It don't stress relieve at all. A job that would run in 2 or 3 ops took 9 !!!

We found that double back tape for the last 3 ops on a Bridgeport EZ-Trak got the best results. You don't have much choice but to keep cutting closer and closer.

Good Luck

[SydwazShawn]

Oh that sucks! I already flipped it 4 times. The only problem is that it has a long 4 degree surface on it. Oh man this is killing me! I was hoping someone would say "oh ya just heat it to 375 deg. for 2 hours and bod-a-bing bod-a-bang"

I will keep working at it.

 

Thanks.

[iowajim62]

One other way to hold a part like that is to order material big enough to put a window frame around the profile. Then you cut the part all out rough and leave .25 wide tabs around the profile. Then start flipping it and finishing it closer and closer. When you have it within .010 of finish cut the tabs down to .015-.025 thickness and run a final finish operation. I really don't like that material ALOT.

[SydwazShawn]

Its so hard to do because I need to cut it in a relaxed state every time! This job really had me pissed today! LoL! Hopefully friday will be better.

[Reverend Turk]

Yeah...good look with that. Bottom line is...Ultem sucks!

[TR Mfg.]

Yup "Ultem sucks" and it is about the same price as gold! But seriously if I could see your part maybe I could help. I have machined a lot of Ultem into thin flimsy parts.

[Fred from Université de Sherbrooke]

Maybe vacuum holding with a fixture? I use it a lot but I do very small parts...

[Camdude®]

cut it and let it rest, we used to let it sit between rough and finish cuts, also didn't try to hold it down tightly as it would pringle when we let it go. stuff just plain s*cks. we've done something like Iowa's method and that works. but like he said ya just gotta sneak up on it while it's not looking.

[SydwazShawn]

Thanks for the replies. It's a new day today, and I had a few ideas while I was about to fall asleep last night! We will se shortly!