Chip Breaker For Aluminum?

[customchris]

So I have been turning a lot of aluminum as of late and I have be testing diff tool profiles for a good chip breaker just for aluminum. I did get one the broke the chips good but they keep getting hung in between the tool and the work and making lines in it..
Do you guys have a pic of a good general purpose grind with a chip breaker . I have 1/2" HHS steel blanks if that matters

 

[bpratl]

Sounds like a good request, I was always wondering if there was a good way to grind a chip breaker for soft metals. Bob

 

[Franko]

All my lathe insert bits have chip breakers ground in, but all I get when turning aluminum is long tight spiral swarf. I have no idea if that is considered good or bad swarf, but it is easier to clean up and never gets between the cutter and material.

 

[kd4gij]

Good luck with the standerd 6061 T6 . It is to soft. There is harder aloys hat chipbrake nice but it isn't cheap.

 

[Doubleeboy]

Fool around with your feeds and cutting speeds, take notes you will likely find a match between spindle speed, carriage feed and depth of cut that gives you chips instead of long string. On roughing cuts you can cheat and stop the carriage feed for a second to break the chip and then start in again to control the rats nest from developing.

michael

 

[Wreck™Wreck]

Try this, grind a groove in the tool on the long axis, doesn't need to be the entire length a 1/2 or 3/4" back or so will do. This will form a positive rake cutting edge and chip breaker, grind front relief, side relief and nose radius as usual. My angles are a bit exaggerated for drawing clarity, I also took a screen shot with the cursor in the drawing
Experiment until you find shapes that work, causing the chip to tightly curl is the aim, the thicker the chip the better so push the feed rates and depth of cut.

 

[Bill C.]

Usually I grind a sharp groove on top that leaves a sharp front cutting edge. If you grind a thin cutting edge it may be hard to regrind the bit if it needs resharpening. When you find a design that works for you grind a extra one bit or two.

Of course the idea for a chip breaker is to get the chip to curl so tight that it breaks. In the old days long string of shavings were desired but they were a safety hazard. I used to dump them in 55 gallon barrels then by the end of the week help the shop truck driver take them to the recycler. Production shops like chips because they easier machine cleanup and removal.

 

[randyc]

Bill, that reminded me that at Westinghouse Marine Division, apprentices with pitchforks heaved those long strings of chips into small dumpsters that were rolled near the larger machines. (That was an impressive place to work - low pay though !)

 

[umahunter]

Mine comes off in strings on the plus I got this cool new wig from the process

 

[savarin]