First Chips!

[Archer60x]

So i was able to make chips with my PM728VT today! Aluminum 6160.

The Haas carbide tipped 2.5" 45 degree shell mill is making beautiful chips and the surface is perfect! 1500 rpm and .030 dept of cut. I am on the low speed belt setup right now (max 1500 rpm), but you can tell it be fine going to 2000 rpm if i wanted to switch to the high speed belt setup.

I tried my HSS .5" two flute and four flute end mills and i am not getting good chips. The surface is not good either. Mild steel the HSS end mills seem to be doing good, but they are not liking aluminum. No matter what speed i try.

Anyone have favorite end mills for aluminum they would recommend? I want to plunge cut with them also.

Thanks!
Chad

 

[homebrewed]

Aluminum chips can re-weld to the surface, producing a very rough finish. The problem is particularly evident if you're milling soft hardware-store quality aluminum. In my experience, getting a good finish requires the use of cutting oil (I don't have a mister or flood coolant). Doing a climb milling finishing pass seems to work, too. Just reversing the tool path w/o advancing the tool into the work will clean up the surface. There's virtually zero DOC so climb milling in that circumstance is pretty much worry-free.

I also have good luck using a fly cutter that has a relatively large-radius cutter.

I recently was cutting a piece of sheet aluminum with a small (~2") 72-tooth slitting saw on my mill. I didn't use any lube, and the cut went OK -- for awhile. Then things started going sideways. I stopped and examined the saw and found that the teeth were jam-full of smeared aluminum, so they couldn't cut. It took some work to clean up the teeth. After that I used a lot of cutting oil and an old toothbrush to clean up the teeth as the blade was turning. The job went much more smoothly (in so many ways) after that.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Aluminum chips can re-weld to the surface, producing a very rough finish. The problem is particularly evident if you're milling soft hardware-store quality aluminum. In my experience, getting a good finish requires the use of cutting oil (I don't have a mister or flood coolant). Doing a climb milling finishing pass seems to work, too. Just reversing the tool path w/o advancing the tool into the work will clean up the surface. There's virtually zero DOC so climb milling in that circumstance is pretty much worry-free.

I also have good luck using a fly cutter that has a relatively large-radius cutter.

I recently was cutting a piece of sheet aluminum with a small (~2") 72-tooth slitting saw on my mill. I didn't use any lube, and the cut went OK -- for awhile. Then things started going sideways. I stopped and examined the saw and found that the teeth were jam-full of smeared aluminum, so they couldn't cut. It took some work to clean up the teeth. After that I used a lot of cutting oil and an old toothbrush to clean up the teeth as the blade was turning. The job went much more smoothly (in so many ways) after that.

I like WD40 or tap magic.

 

[OTmachine]

Usually, I use low helix angle E.M.’s for aluminum, high helix for steel. Here is some reference material: https://solutions.travers.com/metal...ng/the-pros-cons-of-high-and-low-helix-angles