Hi there,
I have been an avid reader of this forum for a few months now. I have not had a need to post a question since most were already covered here but now I am at a loss.
I have been machining a part from 6061 aluminum and 360 brass. The 6061 pieces turn out pretty nice and as expected. The brass however, seems to bend or curl up a little at the ends. What could be causing this? I don't know if I can post pictures yet so I will give the details best I can:
- Minitech MiniMill 1 with Sherline spindle and high speed pully
- 3 flute carbide endmill with a...high helix for cutting non-ferrous metals
- No coolant or lubrication but I do have air blowing the chips out of the way
- Cuts are .01 deep and step over .0625.
- This is simple pocketing- with three pockets- each one a bit smaller in size.
- 10,000 rpm at 18 ipm
- The piece is tightly clamped in a fixture.
- The piece measures 1.75 x .75 x .093 with two posts extending up to .1875 on each end when finished. I start with a piece of brass 2 x .1875.
- I think I am machining the piece with the long dimensions the same direction of the grain of the metal (if that is possible, I don't even know if metal really has a grain and how to machine it)
- OneCNC Pro (amazing stuff) for CAD/CAM but I doubt that matters a bit. Unless you guys tell me to do some crazy custom coding because then it won't matter what I am using- I will be screwed!
Apologies for the lenght of this! I just would like to say that all of you have already taught me a bunch of stuff and I really appreciate this community. This is such a great forum- especially for the clueless like myself. Please have mercy on a newbie!