Machinable wax ER32 collet box

[Stustoys]

I was sick of wrapping/unwrapping my ER32 collets, so I wanted to make a box. Being as wood and myself don't get on all that well I thought about machinable wax. I made up a new batch with 750g of bags to 2.5kgs of wax.
As you can see I didn't cook it long enough the first time but I didn't hate the effect so pushed on.
I got a little excited at one point and and cracked the bottom of a row of bores. No problem with wax. I machined up an aluminium plug and used a blu-tac damn filled it back in when I was melting the swarf to make the lid.
Air bubbles are still a problem. I might have to try vacuum degassing :)

Will be interesting to see if the repair holds up(which is why I didnt just melt it down and start over) and how it reacts with oil etc. Who knows it might melt.
The up sides I can see are, its to soft to damage the collets, moisture wont be a problem, its pretty cheap and if it doesn't work or I screw it up I can always melt it down and make something else.

Stuart

[Ropetangler]

Looks good Stu, as you say nice and soft, so no damaged collets, no moisture holding tendencies, and if it fails, very easy to recycle. Great lateral thinking.:2tsup:Regards,
Rob.

[Steamwhisperer]

Very nice Stuart. My ER 32 collets and chuck arrived and I am about to do the same. Perhaps I should have thought about the wax too. Just as a matter of interest, what size hole have you drilled. I thought about 1 3/16" (30 mm).

Phil

[Big Shed]

Certainly thinking outside the square there:2tsup: Looking good as well.

I don't know how hard/soft machinable wax is, never used it, but what about getting bits of swarf etc accidentally caught in it?

I made my collet rack from a HDPE cutting board, so far it has been working well.

http://www.woodworkforums.com/members/13444-big-shed/albums/metal-work/5981-img-2506/

[Stustoys]

Thanks guys.
I did forget to list the down sides, I dont think it would take kindly to being dropped though the collets would come through ok unless you dropped it from the second floor, hot swarf would melt into it but it will likely spend its life in a draw(Ihave a plan draws near the mill). I'd had some all singing all dancing machinable plastic in the past that was meant to be stable, its be growing. If this wax does the same it will be useless soon enough. Cutting boards might be next if this doesnt work.

Hole sizes. there are three 32x15mm in the lid. 31.6x23.8 and 25.4x29.5 in the base. The diameters and depths of the holes in the base are matched to the taper so the collets stand up straight.

Stuart

[MuellerNick]

That wax-subject is beginning to interest me more and more. I saw, that the receipe is easy and cheap.
What I think about using it is for fixtures of odd-shaped parts (castings). Do you think it is stiff enough (with moderate milling of aluminium) to work as work-holding? What is the melting-temperature at about? Is there a release agent (I doubt wax spray will work :D)?


Thanks,
Nick

[Stustoys]

Hi Nick,
You mean having the wax cast around half the part while you machine the other half?
I'd say that would work as long as the surface wasn't round and smooth of course. The only problem I can see is your cast parts are designed to come loose, so you might need to cast in wax along a line other than their parting line.
You might want to do something about the air bubbles. My first batch which only used half the polythene has nothing like the amount of air bubbles, though I also kept it hot after pouring and cooled it slowly.

There is some more info here
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/machinable-wax-experiments-150845/ (wlmailhtml:{39BAE3B7-E875-4F82-BDF9-3DD0A594E2BB}mid://00000106/!x-usc:http://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/machinable-wax-experiments-150845/)
Its melting temp depends on the weigh of polythene added.


As far as removing it there seems to be a temperature at which it is rubbery but still holds together(a bit like a silicone mould). The leftovers on the saucepan, you can either scrap it off(messy and slow) or just heat it to 100C(or somewhere around there) and it just peels off.

If you give me an idea of the size of part you'd like to try it on I might be able to dig something up to test it on. I assume smaller parts would be more of a problem than larger ones.

No release agent I'm aware of(but then I haven't looked for one). A solvent would be nice also :)

Stuart

[Ropetangler]

Good morning Stuart, It might be just my computer, but I can't get your link to work, - I just get the "page not found" error.
I found the page you were linking to and for the life of me I can see no reason for the link not working, - the url is complete and without error as far as I can see. Does it work for you? If you also have the problem, you might like to try just re-doing the link again. I can find no mistake on your part, but for some reason it is not functioning(for me anyway). Regards,
Rob.

[Stustoys]

Fixed :) There was some junk in the url(I think from a reboot)
Thanks

[MuellerNick]

You mean having the wax cast around half the part while you machine the other half?


I was thinking more of something like casted vise jaws. They could be used for making several pieces of the same part.
The idea is similar to using Wood's alloy or Rose's alloy. That works really great as a "liquid vise", but it is a bit on the expensive side.*)

I didn't expect a clear answer. Just wanted to know wether it is worth trying. I'll try it.

*)
I did that. You can even mill through work and "vise". Just collect the chips, heat it up and get the "liquid vise" back.
That liquid vise is really great if you have to repair a casting without any reference on the outside but just a bore. Drill chuck in the mill, rod in the chuck, rod in the part to be milled, pot clamped to the table, pot filled with liquid Rose's metal, part lowered into, wait a bit and ... clamped!


Nick

[Stustoys]

Hi Nick,
Something to keep in mind.(which I had forgetten about in my earlier post)
This wax shrinks considerably as it cools.

Good luck

Stuart

[MuellerNick]

This wax shrinks considerably as it cools.


Ah, bad news!
Forgot to consider that.


Thanks,
Nick