I’m wondering if it’s possible to drill into a steel anvil blank with the Nomad and what type of bit I may use to go about this. I don’t plan on drilling too deep. About .005", plus another .005" deep for a dimple in the center.
I’d like to create a stamp for my arbor press that can be used to dimple spring steel plating, similar to the picture below. I suppose I could use aluminum but I’m not sure how many stamps I could get out of it without denting the metal too much.
I don’t see why you could not machine steel, Josh. I haven’t machined steel with the Nomad, but have machined spring-temper stainless steel using a Proxxon IB/E spindle on my Tormach, which is roughly similar in oomph range of the Nomad. The stainless was .003" thick, and I machined it with a solid carbide bit .020" in diameter. I was blanking out prototype spring clips and machined the whole thickness at once.
I think you’d want to use a small cutter like .020" or .030" and take small depth of cut, maybe .002" or .003", to minimize flexing/stretch of the X-Y drive belts during the cut. But CNC machines are very patient when you tell them to take a whole lot of small bites…
But I don’t know if mild steel would work for dimpling your spring steel parts. I have not had success with mild steel anvils for pressing a stainless PEM stud into a stainless sheet–the mild steel deformed before embedding the head of the PEM into the sheet. And I don’t know that 7075 aluminum would be any worse than mild steel–it is a pretty tough aluminum alloy.
Thank you, Randy. That’s very helpful. I’ll definitely post an update once my Nomad arrives and let you know how it goes. I’ll probably have more questions then!
