Flared Radius Corner Rounding End Mills

Amber Ring | Warranty Void if Removed

I foolishly started the boring process with a large end mill, hoping to avoid a series of drilling steps. This was a mistake; the highly asymmetric cutting operation snagged the end mill, pulled it into the work and completely lunched the top plate. Once a replacement had been made, I started with a centre bit, then a series of drill bits up to 13mm, before cutting to the final size with the boring tool shown in this photo. In attempting to save three minutes I lost over an hour and a few quid's worth of material

Lou demanded that the bottom corners be radiused off in the interest of practicality. I was most reluctant, as I thought the intersection of the round tube with the square corners much more pleasing. However, it ended up nicer than I had expected. The modification was made with a piercing saw and files.

The repeated soldering attempts had left the piece with very severe firescale, which made polishing a total nightmare. In the future I will try borax dipping, or Argotect, or a firescale-resistant alloy like Brilliante or Argentium 

Hi,

Your (Lou's) ring is very beautiful. And your method of execution, with all of your home made tools, etc. is truly enlightened.

But how did you retain the ring's crips form after polishing off the firescale??

I work in sterling silver, and always end up having to remove the firescale by filing, sanding with discs, etc. -- sometimes I coat the objects in a solution of alcohol and borax, but I think it is a mess plus makes it harder to keep the solder in place.

Are there some specific polishing compounds that you use, that enable you to retain the detail of the silver object and still remove the firescale well...??

Thank in advance.

Eva

Hi Eva,

Thanks for your kind remarks. This was the first time I'd experienced severe firescale. I polished it out with rouge on a felt wheel. I also recall using a polishing "board" made from a lolly stick with fine wet and dry sandpaper glued to it. It was extremely time consuming, the whole process took around three hours! A more aggressive cutting compound, like tripoli, would have helped, but I didn't have any on hand. I preserved the crisp detail by keeping a very close eye on the process; keeping the wheel perpendicular to the surface, and regularly checking the surface flatness by holding it up to a lamp and looking at the reflections. After all, three hours of polishing is only bearable if you're concentrating intently and always thinking about the process!

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