Anyone cut/drill glass on their Tormachs

I usually drill glass parts on my drill press but was thinking I might try it on my tormach.
Has anyone done this?
My main concerned is if the glass chips/dust would be harmful to the machine and ways.
I almost did some sanding on my lathe once and thankfully came across a thread that pointed out that sanding grit is really hard on ways if they are not protected or cleaned up after.
I wonder if glass would be similar.
Thanks
Nathan

In my opinion, glass is sand, so is likely to be bad for your machine. Grinding machines have extra attention paid to protecting the ways. Theoretically, taking extra precautions should be enough.

I need to make some replacement glass screens from microscope slides.
Attachment 261450

I bought some .25" diameter diamond milling bits and I am thinking I might mount a slide with rosin and mill the perimeter shape with everything taped inside a plastic bag. Another issue is the feed rate. Even if the feed rate is slow, that doesn't help if each step is fed in .0005" or .0002" steps. I think the Tormach resolution is much smaller than this but it might be worth some attention.

Hi Kirk
Thanks for the input. I guess that was my hunch but just wanted to see what folks were getting away with. I see some guys are cutting ceramic and graphite composites but that's doesn't mesn it is good for their machines.
Good luck with your project.

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Originally Posted by kirk_wallace

In my opinion, glass is sand, so is likely to be bad for your machine. Grinding machines have extra attention paid to protecting the ways. Theoretically, taking extra precautions should be enough.

I need to make some replacement glass screens from microscope slides.
Attachment 261450

I bought some .25" diameter diamond milling bits and I am thinking I might mount a slide with rosin and mill the perimeter shape with everything taped inside a plastic bag. Another issue is the feed rate. Even if the feed rate is slow, that doesn't help if each step is fed in .0005" or .0002" steps. I think the Tormach resolution is much smaller than this but it might be worth some attention.

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Just mount a shop vac to the spindle or vise and go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kirk_wallace

In my opinion, glass is sand, so is likely to be bad for your machine. Grinding machines have extra attention paid to protecting the ways. Theoretically, taking extra precautions should be enough.

I need to make some replacement glass screens from microscope slides.
Attachment 261450

I bought some .25" diameter diamond milling bits and I am thinking I might mount a slide with rosin and mill the perimeter shape with everything taped inside a plastic bag. Another issue is the feed rate. Even if the feed rate is slow, that doesn't help if each step is fed in .0005" or .0002" steps. I think the Tormach resolution is much smaller than this but it might be worth some attention.

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Kirk,


I just bought these 0.33mm thick glass covers for our new LG Volt cell phones.Amazon.com: GLAZZ 0.33mm Tempered Glass Screen Protector for LG Volt (Made From Real Glass, Shatterproof, 2.5d Rounded Edges and Oleophobic Coating): Cell Phones & Accessories As a suggestion the 1/3mm thick glass is way less thick than a microscope slide and would probably be much easier to machine with a small diamond mill. Also comes with adhesive applied. I would be leary of machining glass or cast iron on my Tormach but then I'm just outside looking in ;-)

Don C.

Thank you for the link Don. That looks like a good idea, although the slides I got match the original caliper covers or crystal or whatever at 1mm(?) thickness.

From my experience in grinding a telescope mirror, I thought I could figure out the machining of the slides, but not so far, although I haven't had the time to take it to the next level. The diamond mill loads up then just rubs, so I think I need to use coolant or run in a bath which might also help control where the waste glass goes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyI111Tn0Cs

I got one lot of these defective calipers from eBay and was able to mix parts to get two that are in good order.
General Tools and Instruments

If I can make the covers, I could probably get six or seven more good ones, although they have some basic design flaws, which I think could be corrected. When they are tight and adjusted they work pretty well, but loosen up pretty quickly. They all had calibration stickers from the same company and are worn in the same area so are a bit tight at the ends of travel. The fraction mode is a bit annoying, but I prefer these over my dad's old inch only mechanical dial calipers.

I've cut glass a few times on my mill - cutting holes through old power line ins
ulators, using a diamond hole saw. I don't think you'll have much luck cutting glass without coolant, but I would not want ground glass getting into the rest of the machine. What I would do is reduce the coolant flow to the lowest volume that keeps things cool, and put the whole workpiece/fixture/whatever in some kind of pan. Line the pan with some kind of cloth filter (a cloth diaper would probably work well), or perhaps use an aquarium filter with a "glass wool" element, so the coolant MUST pass through the filter before escaping the pan. That should keep the ground glass from getting into the rest of the system.

If course, you could also just have a glass shop cut the pieces you need. I've done that for similar applications.

Regards,
Ray L.

I was planning on running coolant and didn't think about it entering the circulation stream that way.
Thanks for the comments.
I think I will keep the glass away from the tormach and just do wood metals and plastics for now

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Originally Posted by SCzEngrgGroup

I've cut glass a few times on my mill - cutting holes through old power line ins
ulators, using a diamond hole saw. I don't think you'll have much luck cutting glass without coolant, but I would not want ground glass getting into the rest of the machine. What I would do is reduce the coolant flow to the lowest volume that keeps things cool, and put the whole workpiece/fixture/whatever in some kind of pan. Line the pan with some kind of cloth filter (a cloth diaper would probably work well), or perhaps use an aquarium filter with a "glass wool" element, so the coolant MUST pass through the filter before escaping the pan. That should keep the ground glass from getting into the rest of the system.

If course, you could also just have a glass shop cut the pieces you need. I've done that for similar applications.

Regards,
Ray L.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by kirk_wallace

IThe fraction mode is a bit annoying, but I prefer these over my dad's old inch only mechanical dial calipers.

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I also like a mechanical dial caliper like the Mitutoyo 505-646-50 12" dial I have had for 25 years and still works like new. Amazon.com: Mitutoyo 12" Dial Caliper w/ Case 505-645-50: Home Improvement

Don C.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SCzEngrgGroup

I've cut glass a few times on my mill - cutting holes through old power line ins
ulators, using a diamond hole saw. I don't think you'll have much luck cutting glass without coolant, but I would not want ground glass getting into the rest of the machine. What I would do is reduce the coolant flow to the lowest volume that keeps things cool, and put the whole workpiece/fixture/whatever in some kind of pan. Line the pan with some kind of cloth filter (a cloth diaper would probably work well), or perhaps use an aquarium filter with a "glass wool" element, so the coolant MUST pass through the filter before escaping the pan. That should keep the ground glass from getting into the rest of the system.

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Particularly dangerous with the Tormach mill that uses soft Turcite on the ways that could trap and embed abrasive particles.

Don C.

I've cut Macor machinable ceramic on my Novakon. Nasty Nasty stuff. A horrible mess to contain and clean up. I used a minimum amount of flood coolant to contain the flow inside the table so it would drain directly into a make shift pan and pump. It creates a super fine particulate that is sticky and difficult to wipe up/clean. After the job and an hour of clean up, I just threw everything away. I'll never cut it again...YuK