Then I tried turning the outer diameter.... Aww SH*T! It's fiberglass!
Yeah... that wasn't what I was expecting. The results were a flurry of dust and these hairlike strands delaminating off the piece as I cut into the matrix. It actually looked like somebody had been dealing cocaine on my machine. On top of that, I wasn't wearing my OSHA approved respirator either, so I tried my best to stand several feet back while machining. Nonetheless, I decided to keep going because I might learn something. I had to drill some holes through the end, so I figured I'd clamp the thing in my boring bar holder so it would go into the vise easier.
Indicating the drill chuck on center with an
Drilling some teeny tiny holes. This drill wandered quite a bit, so the holes weren't as straight as I'd like. I suppose the material had something to do with that since the glass fibers are oriented lengthwise along the part, so it was like drilling into the end grain of a piece of wood. Speaking of which, it completely slipped my mind that wood is a viable insulating material, so next time I will consider using that.
Then turning it down some more. UUUUHHHHH!!!! Dust everywhere! Not only was that unpleasant to breathe, but after all of this, my hands felt like I had been touching a cactus. I got a bunch of tiny glass needles embedded in my skin. Apparently, a cure for this is to cover your hands with glue and peel it off.... I think I'll just wait until they fall out naturally.... Lesson learned: don't machine fiberglass. I actually had a bit of experience with deburring carbon fiber at one of my old jobs... same type of problem with the splinters in the hand. To top it all off, I don't think these parts even turned out good enough to use in the final product! Next time I'll either go with wood or buy some actual plastic. For now, I will add fiberglass below plywood on my list of things I'd like to machine.
This could have all been avoided if you could wear gloves while machining lololololol
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