What is the best way to cut a groove in some steel dies?

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these dies are 4" in diameter and 2" thick and have a 1/2" groove down the middle.I need to expand the 1/2" groove down the middle so it is 1" wide. then I will use the dies in a bending machine to bend 1x1" x 16 gauge AL square tube. I tried bolting the die to my drill press and it wobbled too much, even when I had the bolt go through the drill press stand. I'm guessing a metal lathe would do betterhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-me...item3f2064ec13had my eye on this. I'd rather spend a few hundred on  a tool and learn to do it myself than pay $150 for a machinest to do it, but if hiring a pro is actually makes more sense.  I dont' mind hearing that either.
Reply:if they are hard they would probably have to use ceramic inserted tooling or grind them..  if they end up having to grind them it could get fairly expensive.. you could take a file and see if a file will cut it, if so its not that hard. if you have the room and you find yourself being able to use a lathe on other jobs (a shop can always use a lathe)  you would probably be better off just going ahead and getting one, I dont think they will get any cheaper either.tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:Make sure the chuck(s) has the capacity for your dies?  Do those jaws go with those chucks?
Reply:For the price you'd pay for those dies and machining you could just buy a set in the size you want from swag off-road he has several sizes350P 30A spool gun cut master 51  syncro 250 other stuff " take a dog off the street and make him prosper and he will not bite you sad the same cannot be said for man" i didnt use punctuation just to piss you off
Reply:http://www.swagoffroad.com/Harbor-Fr...Dies_p_51.htmlthanks for the swag mention. I'll probably just buy some of those.
Reply:You could go ghetto and make a jig that holds it in a slow drill and has a grinder with a cutoff wheel that cut into it as the die spins.Welding/Fab Pics: www.UtahWeld.com
Reply:I'm all about ghetto and already tried that with a drill press My guess is it would take 2 or 3 discs per wheel and 3 hrs total. I gave up.
Reply:Are you trying to make bends or archs350P 30A spool gun cut master 51  syncro 250 other stuff " take a dog off the street and make him prosper and he will not bite you sad the same cannot be said for man" i didnt use punctuation just to piss you off
Reply:archs of about 2 foot radius.
Reply:Those look like dies for a HF tube roller.  If they are, I had a machine shop widen two sets for me, one set to 1" and another to 1.5" ( I think).  They charged $50.  He also drilled and tapped two more set screw holes on the drive dies.They worked fine, but now the drive die starts slipping on the shaft.  I think I'll drill through the dies and shaft both and put a bolt through it all.Thermal Arc 211i FabricatorAutoArc 130Lincoln AC 225O/A setAssorted hand tools and implements of destruction
Reply:could mount the dies on a bench grinder or drill press and use an angle grinder with a cut-off wheel to widen the groove.miller thunderbolt 250vlincoln square wave tig 175 prolincoln idealarc mig sp250everlast tig 210EXTeverlast power plasma 50chicago electric (hf) 130 tig/90 arcchicago electric 90 amp flux wire3 sets oxy/acet