DownUnder Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 (edited) I have a Tanfoglio 38 Super with the old-style compensator, no slots in the slide and no ports in the barrel. I can get a drop-in V8 barrel with barrel ports and it looks like it will drop straight into my slide and frame. It also looks like all I need to do is to cut slots in the existing slide to allow the barrel ports to vent. How hard is the composition/treatment of the slide metal? I'm told it is very hard. Can I cut into it with a normal tungsten milling bit or should I get the slots EDM wire cut? Other method? Edited September 23, 2009 by DownUnder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterbenedetto Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 slide is soft..FRAME IS SUPER HARD!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floydian Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Hi Downunder Tungsten milling cutters are fine, you will need a couple of 1/4" four flute end mills. The slides hard-chromed outer skin is around 70+HRc, harder than most knives and will sheer & chip your milling cutter flutes pretty fast. You need to get under the skin on the first cut. Textbook feeds & speeds won't apply here. Starting point of about 1000 rpm with slow manual feed on the table will get good results. Use plenty of coolant, you can feed the cutter in about .5mm to 1.00mm per pass/slot. Tilting head or vice to achieve the V configuration. Regards Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIIID Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 You can cut dry with tungsten carbide cutters that have been surface treated, I can get 4 slides cut with one cutter. If I could use cutting fluid they would last longer. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeoHallak Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 slide is soft..FRAME IS SUPER HARD!!! Honestly its the opposite way. the slides are very hard surface. the frame is easy to cut. leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolguy Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 On hard steel with a carbide end mill you are better off cutting dry with a spindle speed of 300 to 500 RPM. Your end mills will last the longest that way. With coolant or cutting oil, the end mill wants to skate off the surface and by the time you put enough pressure on it to make it bite in, it chips the cutting edge off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weimer01 Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Once you get about 0.013" - 0.015" deep it softens up (not much though) however it's those first few thou' that kill the end mill (carbide). Food for thought: forget about plunge cutting with a flat bottom, they just walk and leave a nasty slot. Go with a ball cutter to get things going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolguy Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 +1 on the ball endmill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownUnder Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 Thanks for all of the valuable tips. I will give it a go using a tungsten ball end mill as suggested and see how it works out. I'll also get a couple of four flutes in case they are needed. It should be an interesting project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolguy Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 You need to use 4 flute ball end mills. 2 flute ones won't work for this application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyroe Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 (edited) I would really like to try this myself but have no idea where to start in terms of required tools, process etc.. And I bet I'm not the only one wondering! How about posting a how-to-do-it-video on youtube? Or a written step-by-step explaination? I'm sure it would be of great value to a lot of us reading the EAA forum - if someone would please enligthen us :-) Edited September 26, 2009 by Dyroe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeoHallak Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I would really like to try this myself but have no idea where to start in terms of required tools, process etc.. And I bet I'm not the only one wondering!How about posting a how-to-do-it-video on youtube? Or a written step-by-step explaination? I'm sure it would be of great value to a lot of us reading the EAA forum - if someone would please enligthen us :-) I guess first step is to have a mill? do you have one? leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyroe Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I would really like to try this myself but have no idea where to start in terms of required tools, process etc.. And I bet I'm not the only one wondering!How about posting a how-to-do-it-video on youtube? Or a written step-by-step explaination? I'm sure it would be of great value to a lot of us reading the EAA forum - if someone would please enligthen us :-) I guess first step is to have a mill? do you have one? leo I am a total noob at this and guess I was a bit to ambitious: I'm not in possession of a mill and, from I have seen on the web, it seems to be a pricey investment Just wanted to "develop" my hobby... Thanks anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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