Dremel question about reamer heads

[Jimski]

heya all!

I want to use my dremel with a reamer head to dig into a TM AUG aluminium receiver.(its aluminium is not amazing but hard enough)
I'm really going to be removing quite a bunch of material ( most of the metal bar that holds the rail: I want to remove roughly 5mm on top.)
so doing it with a hand file could be a bit tedious.

I'm considering using my dremel on its pivot mount to engage the receiver from the side and dig in just like a conventional reaming machine would do.
(I used some in school)

-is that possible or obviously stupid?
-what kind of head should I be using?
-what RPM ? fast or slow?

thank you!

[coach]

Originally Posted by Jimski

-is that possible or obviously stupid?
-what kind of head should I be using?
-what RPM ? fast or slow?

yes, it's possible. I'm not picturing exactly what you want to remove but you should be okay. I highly recommend that you clamp the receiver down with a vice or vice grips to a table so that it doesn't move, and hold the dremel with 2 hands.

You can use just about any bit you want. It doesn't necessarily need to be able to cut metal as I've drilled out a hole in my buffer tube with a dry wall zip bit.



For RPM, I adjust as I see fit. Too slow and it will take you forever. Too fast it can jump on you and scratch and remove material you don't want removed.

[Nova316]

I perfer to use the 9901 Dremel Tungsten Carbide Cutter

It seems to work the best IMO for cutting metal
Amazon.com: Dremel 9901 Tungsten Carbide Cutter: Home Improvement

[Jimski]

ok awesome !
thanks people!

the receiver will be held in a vice screwed to the table.
The dremel is mounted on a dremel workstation so it's all stable.

ooops:

Dremel 9901 Tungsten Carbide Cutter: Do not run in excess of 30,000 RPM

[coach]

Originally Posted by Nova316

I perfer to use the 9901 Dremel Tungsten Carbide Cutter

It seems to work the best IMO for cutting metal
Amazon.com: Dremel 9901 Tungsten Carbide Cutter: Home Improvement

I've burned through one of those. They get pretty hot.

[Styrak]

Tungsten carbide through aluminum should be like a knife through butter.

Good luck!

[Jimski]

yeah!
I took a much wider head because it was going to take too long instead:


still 25 passes to do

[Styrak]

May I ask what you're doing exactly?

[Jimski]

AHAH I knew you'd ask

sshhwing


of course the receiver will have to be a little different...
should I make the long mag also?

[ThunderCactus]

Dear lord don't use a reamer on a dremel lol
And furthermore, you sound like your new at this, so you might not realize aluminum really clogs stuff up when it gets hot!
So you need a carbide burr with alot of chip clearance, like an "alumacut" burr, designed for aluminum.
I've got one that looks like a roughing end mill that works like you wouldnt believe, but I can't remember where I got it.
Anyway, don't try to take off too much at once, always climb cut with burrs, and don't overheat the tool!

[Jimski]

mm but this head is made for the dremel...

[lemegacool]

a better choice would be a end mill... but a tad bit more pricey , and the reamer should do the job fine... when i built my jet engine's control panel i cutted out the holes for the gauges with a plasma cutter and did the finishing with one of these reamers. for the speed just like said, not too fast or too slow and clean the bit between passes because aluminium has a bad habit of clogging on tool especially if it's low quality cast aluminium... and from what i saw your goal is to remove the rails on the top? you could also used a fine grit sanding disk mounted on an 5" angle gringer... can do a very "close to machined finish if used properly!

[Malice Army]

having carved up some aluminum car bits the same way , I can say it works, then clean the cut up with the diamond tip bits, and you'll proly have to clean it up with some 400 grit sandpaper by hand. Go slow, measure twice, good luck

[Jimski]

awesome thanks guys