I was making a sacraficial board for my new bandsaw fence out of a piece of HDPE I had laying around. It had a previous life as a thick cutting board or something. It had cuts all over both faces of it. I cut it to width on the table saw (went smoothly) and then planed both sides of it. It worked easier than wood. I was a little afraid I was going to melt it to the knives or something.
You just never know, but sometime the good guys win. :)
That is good to know it planed well. 8)
I've also planed HDPE without problems. Sometimes it will cause a problem cutting. Seems worse on the bandsaw and can become dangerous. A couple of months ago I was making diaphragms for irrigation float valves with it. To machine the diaphragm I put it on a rotary table and used a router bit in the Bridgeport. I was melting the plastic and I had a hard brittle build up on the cutter which left a rough finish. The solution was increasing the feed on the rotary table a lot. After I did that no problems at all....cept for a sore crankin arm.
Lets see some pictures of the fence...I might want to copy it. :)
It isn't anything special. I will take some pictures of it this weekend.
Quote from: Larry on September 11, 2014, 07:29:00 PM
I've also planed HDPE without problems. Sometimes it will cause a problem cutting. Seems worse on the bandsaw and can become dangerous. A couple of months ago I was making diaphragms for irrigation float valves with it. To machine the diaphragm I put it on a rotary table and used a router bit in the Bridgeport. I was melting the plastic and I had a hard brittle build up on the cutter which left a rough finish. The solution was increasing the feed on the rotary table a lot. After I did that no problems at all....cept for a sore crankin arm.
Lets see some pictures of the fence...I might want to copy it. :)
A fly cutter works pretty good.
That is a good idea. I do have a fly cutter...don't know why I didn't think to use it.
It machines beautifully, a sharp hss bit is pretty important, as well as cranking up the speed.
Quote from: Larry on September 13, 2014, 09:43:07 AM
That is a good idea. I do have a fly cutter...don't know why I didn't think to use it.
In the industrial sewing business they have Clickers. Just a hydraulic press that has a big head that presses down on a shaped knife die like a shoe sole or gasket. They use a big plastic board and they planed them to get a clean surface. They basically used a fly cutter on a vertical motor to do it with.
its a carter magfence II and I just bolted a piece of hdpe to it. The hdpe cut pretty easy with a forsner bit too.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/25938/20140913_191827.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/25938/20140913_191845.jpg)
how does the magfence work? you said the plastic was sacrificial so do you push the fence into the blade to cut the wood? How does the fence slide if it is magnetic? Looks like a handy item to have. How much does one cost?
It uses switchable magnets to affix it to the table. The plastic is just so you can run the fence right next to the blade if need be without worrying about messing up the aluminum fence. The fence was $100, but it comes with two of those switchable magnets which are $36 a piece so the fence is more like $30. The magnets can be removed and used in other shop jigs.