Chassis Milling?

[jbaakko]

I'm trying to find places that do chassis milling. My two former SD24 slugs need their fuel tanks squared off, to become the electrical cabinets, and doing it by hand sucks! Any suggestions would be well appreciated.

 

[wongsing]

Hey Josh,

Have you tried a dremel? I work on aircraft and use one sometimes...It really comes in handy while milling down partswith lots of excess metal and you don't want to destroy the component....not to mention, its a good investment and worth a shot!

-Rich

 

[Smoke]

I have used a dremmel to grind away at a Walthers 8-40BW. Just go slowly and don't grind too much at once. Oh yeah wear eyewear, pieces DO fly.

-Smoke

 

[Larry]

If it's metal, any good machine shop can do it at a price. If it's plastic, how about a bandsaw or a Dremel Like Rich said. I use my Dremel for all kinds of jobs. I have all of the attachments for it except the drillpress.

 

[Hawkeye251]

Josh, I'd definitely go with a machine shop if you can find one... I cut down my Athearn GP40-2 frame with a Dremel, and found it to be a pretty un-fun experience, it took multiple bits/cutting wheels, and it was difficult to get the cuts perfectly straight. I ended up under cutting a filing for hours to get everything just right. Even so, a professional with a milling machine would have done a far better job.

 

[CBCNSfan]

While I don't actually recommend it (unless you are used to using it) I use a 4-1/2 inch hand grinder and finish off with a 10 or 12 inch bastard file. A flat surface and tolerance of 0.01 mm overall can be obtained with cross trace filing but don't be in a hurry. Actually I don't come close to that when grinding the tanks off the U33C frames when building the C630M's

Willis

 

[sushob]

Maybe you can find someone who specializes in that sort of thing. Our shop is certainly capable of doing it, but shop rate starts at something like $50+ an hour plus shipping costs, etc.

 

[CBCNSfan]

I thought I had this online somewhere but I guess not. Anyway heres on I had just added the 630 tanks to.

Willis

 

[jbaakko]

See now, I had started on one with a Dremel, but I've been working on it for about 8 hours total, and I don't even have one side cut off yet, I have to remove both sides, and some off of either end. Couple that with it not being perfectly square (its going to have a styrene box built around it but some squareness would help), I'm just trying to find a more realistic way. I know I saw somewhere where they mill chassis for sound in, and I figured they might be able to do this project.

 

[Larry]

If you can find a person w/a small metal cutting bandsaw it would be easy.
Dremel makes a small bandsaw for cutting metal or wood. For doing metal you need a small tooth blade & a lot slower speed & a clamp to hold it in place. A person that does this type of sawing usually has all the stuff to do it.

 

[CBCNSfan]

but I've been working on it for about 8 hours total, and I don't even have one side cut off yet,

Sounds like grinder work to me. All in all since the grinding wheel is flat it's not all that hard to control keeping the surface flat. Finish it off with a file maybe 20 min. per side

This one is less than $20 in Canada so you're not looking at a large outlay of cash.
http://images.canadiantire.ca/media...ortableAngleGrinders/0547234_450_CC_51b27.jpg

Willis

 

[jbaakko]

Well I got an offer through an email from a member of the forum, I'll probably have him do it, if not, I'll see about getting some better tools...

 

[dougcnup]

Josh,
I gotta think that there is a machine shop near you or a tech school with a machine tool program. Depending on how much you need milled off. they just might do it for next to nothing. Used to work in a machine shop, I would do it on my own time if I still did.

Doug

 

[RexHea]

While I don't actually recommend it (unless you are used to using it) I use a 4-1/2 inch hand grinder and finish off with a 10 or 12 inch bastard file. A flat surface and tolerance of 0.01 mm overall can be obtained with cross trace filing but don't be in a hurry. Actually I don't come close to that when grinding the tanks off the U33C frames when building the C630M's

Willis

Willis, I did the same thing to the chassis of an unpowered BLI E7B, which was the same as the powered unit. The darn thing weighed as much as a total train. A Dremel just didn't have the moxey, so I used my side grinder. I wanted to preserve the speaker molds and found it easy to control the grinder enough to not damage them by simply easing it onto the metal and not tryiing to take off too much at once. Filling took care of the jagged edges and all came out well. Should work for most any larger rough-in work.
I would hate to guess the cost of a machine shop's setup time.

 

[Grande Guy]

Josh,

I did my Athearn DRGW SD40T-2 tanks in a Bridgeport mill at my work. A good machinist could mill those off in maybe 15 minutes with an end mill.

Regards, Dave Dane

 

[jbaakko]

Thanks Grande Guy (think about it, do we got Grande Twins here?)

 

[Smoke]

Thanks Grande Guy (think about it, do we got Grande Twins here?)

I was wondering that myself.

-Smoke

 

[HaggisKennedy]

That's what I really need, a side grinder. To shave off tons of metal in a few passes, then go to a smaller grinder to finish off the rest of the metal that needs removing. I'm not interested in spending a lot of time to remove metal.

Kennedy