I've been having some issues milling 6061 aluminum. Nothing major, I think I've figured out the main problems.

I have one general opinion question though. My machine is an industrial machine so it can handle aluminum but what I'm curious about is even though I can run up to 20,000 RPM and been initially testing at 15,000 RPM with 18,000 RPM max bits, should I just run slower for better cuts and less issues?

To note what I've been testing lately is a single flute carbide bit at 15,000 RPM at 60 IPM and .004 chip. I'm not exactly happy about the look of the cut.

I've tried slowing it down but then the aluminum gets to hot, welds, and breaks my bit.
So I tried faster and still the aluminum got too hot and I ended up losing another bit.
(To not this is of course contingent on what type of cut. Using a 2D adaptive in Fusion 360 and chipping away it doesn't have issues really but still not the cleanest cut)


Should I just run Aluminum cuts at say 5k-10k RPM and take on the slower speeds to help reduce heat? I have a built in air+mist cooling system but still seem to be running hot when I run the recommended settings from Amana.


First time Aluminum cutter so any thoughts or advice are appreciated. Thanks.