Circlip groove

[John Rudd]

I need to machine a circlip groove in a 3mm silver steel shaft for some circlips.

Circlips themselves are 0.6-0.7mm thick and are 2.3mm.

So to the collective, I put it to you, what’s the best way to tackle this?

I tried an abrasive disc ( my fav method.) in my Dremellookalike but the end brg is knackered so it wobbles like a jelly….I tried Stew Harts method using a slit saw….hmmmm some erroneous noises made me abandon that idea…

Silver steel doesn’t machine like EN1a sadly….so open to suggestions please….

What works for you?

[Joules]

Grinding bits of Eclipse hacksaw blade, just below the teeth, if you have something that can hold it like a parting blade.  Otherwise sacrifice a small HSS drill bit in some metal stock you can hold in a toolpost. Your dodgy Dremel can part profile it, do you have diamond stones for finishing ?  Keep stick out to a minimum unless you have a pile of small drills to use.


Oh !!!  Is your silver steel part unhardened ?

[John Rudd]

Steel is not hardened…

I’m thinking using a broken 1/8” centre drill suitably profiled to make the groove, sharpened on my t and c grinder..

[Joules]

Sounds like a good approach to getting it sorted.

[John Rudd]

Just wish the silver steel wasn’t so hard!

[BillTodd]

I found a used carbide grooving insert 0.75mm by my measurement.  Might have one good edge, or would sharpen on a diamond lap.

Ph Horn 312.0070.15 1N32

Pm your address and I'll pop in the post

[John Rudd]

Bill,
That’s a great gesture….I’ll bear it in mind. Does it need a holder of some sort?

In the meantime, I’ll give some other ideas a go…

[BillTodd]

Side on it's triangular with a hole in the middle.

Ideally it needs to sit in a V open at the bottom . It's not difficult to make if you have a mill.

[Joules]

Nice insert Bill, that's given me ideas for my own tooling cut from hacksaw blade.  Times like this I wish I had an EDM machine 

[ddmckee54]

Used carbide drill bits with a 1/8" shank can be had off Ebay for less than a buck a piece.  These can be used to make a variety of small tools, both external tools and internal.