Billet? whats billet mean?

[Techno]

I had my own thoughts on this and have come to the conclusion it means "metal" or something just as uselessly descriptive.
I could cast a bar, square, plate-whatever and then machine it - would it be billet? and why not cast it in the first place?

I assumed billet meant it was machined from a single "billet" of metal. But I see very little billet items sold this way. Most are screwed together, IE swim platforms made of 3 seperate plates and requiring screws to hold it together.
To my mind thats machined and not billet. Made from 3 seperate billets. Not one. If you can make the thing from seperate machined items is there a limit where it ain't a billet thing anymore?

SO whats up with billet? What does it mean to YOU

[rev.ronnie]

Cast, forged or extruded to form one single piece. To have uninterrupted grainflow.

Cast billet-puored metal
extruded billet- forced through an extruder
forged billet- casting or extrusion hammered under pressure

It must mean then if you have an old Trojan boat that it is made from "organic billet material".......wood

[JDKZRT]

It means the same to me as it does to Techno; MACHINED (not cast, forged or extruded) from a single billet (block) of metal.
To everyone and their dogs marketing metal (usually aluminium) parts, it is a catchy marketing term that could mean ANYTHING.

[bulldogdaddy]

one word=expensive

[Hooty]

Main Entry: 3billet
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English bylet, from Middle French billete, diminutive of bille log, of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish bile landmark tree
1 a : a chunky piece of wood (as for firewood) b obsolete : CUDGEL
2 a : a bar of metal b : a piece of semifinished iron or steel nearly square in section made by rolling an ingot or bloom c : a section of nonferrous metal ingot hot-worked by forging, rolling, or extrusion d : a nonferrous casting suitable for rolling or extrusion


c/6
Hooty

[northeastcat]

I'm with Bulldogdaddy... EXPENSIVE

[MegaBaron]

This is what I mean by BILLET... i use this mill lathe combo in my garage (not my career, just one of my hobbies) and i take this BILLET brass stock and aluminum block/rod stock and i machine these things.. and thats what BILLET means to ME. "I had my own thoughts on this and have come to the conclusion it means "metal" or something just as uselessly descriptive.
I could cast a bar, square, plate-whatever and then machine it - would it be billet? and why not cast it in the first place?

I assumed billet meant it was machined from a single "billet" of metal. But I see very little billet items sold this way. Most are screwed together, IE swim platforms made of 3 seperate plates and requiring screws to hold it together.
To my mind thats machined and not billet. Made from 3 seperate billets. Not one. If you can make the thing from seperate machined items is there a limit where it ain't a billet thing anymore?"

SO whats up with billet? What does it mean to YOU

[dagodiver]

I think this stuff is billet..??

[MegaBaron]

yup im sure that is what it means to him! be insane to have that CNC stuff.. my little thing is a hand crank deal.. hardest part is making two identical pieces!!!

[flabum1017]

http://info.cpm-industries.com/blog/...Cast-vs-Billet