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double sided tape


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I have never used tape in machining.  Other than blue painters tape to protect aluminum parts from vise jaws.  I would like a little input from any one about using double sided tape.  Obviously you can't hog on it but I don't know what kind of tape to get and what to put it on as I assume you mill all the way thru it.  I am looking to mill .035in grade 2 ti sheet, .035in 304 sheet, .035in alu sheet and .035in perforated ti sheet.  I am not in a terrible hurry but I will probably need the tape within 2 to 3 weeks.

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Is vacuum an option? Because tape is going to hold those sheets great. Until you have to remove the part. Then the thin cross-section means you bend the crap out of them, trying to get them to release. At least, that has been mostly my experience. I found using a taper's knife (putty knife) with a wide blade would work pretty well, but really thin is still an issue. If you had .125 stock it makes a huge difference. 

Can you stack them together, in-between some sacrificial layers of aluminum and batch-machine them? Design a window frame to push on the periphery of the stack, and after you machine a pocket, put a strap clamp across the pocket walls?

The best thing i ever did when cutting thin sheets was to build a vacuum plate, with replaceable fixture plates. Sure, it takes some time to set it up correctly, but it solves so many problems you didn't even know about, before you have to experience them.

Sometimes, coolant can seep under the tape, and cause it to come loose. Sometimes, the parts just move...

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Done this for years. It has its place.

3M makes the tape. ITs not cheap, but it works fine.

The trick to getting the parts off is to use acetone (or coolant) to break the bond. Get it wet at the edges and pry slowly. keep wetting till it gives.

On thicker parts, get it wet and tap it with a plastic hammer .Repeat till it moves.

There are a lot of parts that don't lend themselves to normal fixturing. Just take lite cuts and go fast. Don't use flood coolant or the parts will go flying. spray mist.

AND don't get the parts HOT. That will also release the bond.

Cut the parts to the tape. We use .010 thick paper back. Don't use the foam kind. They also make .005" thick, CAll a REP for 3M to get the #'s of the tape.

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