[bearracecars]

hi all
posted this in a different location but will try here also. what bits work best for routing aluminum sheet? anyone have experience with this? what works and what doesn't?

thanks alot
bear

[pk7639]

We had a bit of a play with speeds and feeds using a few cutters, Results here:
http://www.cncathome.com/speedsnfeeds.html

Hope it helps.
PK

[shovelitdeep]

you can get reverse spiral end mills that work well if there is a similarly profiled support under the sheet. they work by pushing the sheet down, instead of lifting it, MSC has them, I think. Where I used to work we got them through msc, but we used a lot of them so it may have been worth it fr the sales guy to track them down
they will not drill down though. there are also end mills that have both spirals that work because the spirals counteract each other

[ger21]

www.onsrud.com has an entire catalog of router bits for aluminum. www.onsrud.com

[S*mmy]

Just a note on MSC, Delivery is great, inventory is there........prices are sometimes higher than other tooling suppliers. I've compared at sometimes 40% higher through MSC......

[spoiledbrat]

I agree that MSC is an awesome supplier (with their 5000 page catalog)

Look for their sales. I receive a magazine (small, on sale stuff catalog), and they always have end mills in there. For instance, I purchase a couple of 1/2", 2 flute, solid carbide end mills for only 50 dollars. That is about the same as a low-tech router bit at Lowes.

[Jimildoo]

The grade of aluminum is an important factor. Grades good for anodising are soft and not good for router cutting - it is like stirring porridge. Harder marine and machining grades give completely different results. A cold-air gun and a little vegetable oil based liquid lubricant assists by preventing the tool from heating up causing the material to stick to it. Single flute tools perform well because of superior chip removal. Experiment with climb/conventional cutting as well as speed - the back side of the cut can be a mess but the front side shiny and clean.

[bearracecars]

thanks for all the replies. i've been searching all over and have found aluminum cutters but a little confussed on which works best. onsrud spiral o's, two flute, single flute, high speed steel, carbide. so many choices not enough money. Cooling seems to be really important. even read about alcohol based misting fluids, anybody use that?
thanks
bear

[bearracecars]

msc is great. order from them weekly along with mc-master. i just wish mc-master wasn't so hard to get a catalog from.
bear

[edmond]

I use Belin Yvon Spiral O upcut aluminium cutters along with a coolant mixture of paraffin and aluminium cutting fluid.The Belin Yvon cutter are from France and they are really top quality, made from micro grain carbide.I order them from my local Multicam dealer here in South Africa.

[maxman]

Hi . I have 2 Multicam Routers and all we do is cut alu, all day every day. We have tried almost all the bits out there and have settled on this combo. Onsrud single flute for softer grades and WPW two flute Solid cabide Bits for every thing else. ,

!But here is the impotant part!

We mix a solution of cutting oil and parrafin ( 10% Castrol Sulfex D and 90 % Illuminating Parrafin) and then spray it on the tool with a dual spray misting system.
The softer the Alu - The More Mist you apply.



Also - we are cutting at 20 millimeters per second with a spindle speed of 11000 rpm , cutter diameter between 6 and 10 , and usually only cutting half the bits diameter in depth.

Hope this helps

[frenzal]

We cut a lot of ally mainly between 3 and 20mm thick on a home made router. We use solid carbide, single flute cutters between 3mm and 10mm diameter. Most of them we run at 1000mm/min with a 1mm depth of cut. The 10mm we can push up to 1500mm/min and the 3mm we run a bit slower. We get a good finish on the part if we use climb mill.

We don't use any cutting lubricants (mainly because we use the router for wood too and don't want to get it all greasy). Spindle speed is 20,000rpm for most of the bits and 25,000 for the 3mm ones (approx).

Good luck with it!

[Anodizer]

I got some really good information about milling sheet aluminum from this discussion. I have been trying to mill cutouts in preformed boxes for projects from my shop.
I was trying only the bits I received with the Sherline mill. Sft aluminum, required for bend ability, loads the cutting edge. I am going to try the ones recommended.
As for anodizing, which I do a lot, the only alloys that are next to impossible to anodize as the ones that are cast, too much silicon that burns.
2000 series, sheet bendable, anodizes great. I am now anodizing all formed
boxes instead of painting. 6000 and 7000 also anodize great, I have done both grades.
A word about aluminum, when someone crows about "aircraft grade" they are trying to jack up the price. 6064T6 is 6064T6, there is no 6064T6 that is "aircraft grade". I buy some aluminum from "The Yard" in Witchata, Kansas.
They get surplus from Boeing, Cessna and Raytheon. They told me there is no real aircraft grade, it does have to be certified as to be exactly the grade listed, cannot sneak 6064 for 7075. If you need wild dimension aluminum, contact them or visit their web site for information.

Fred

[bearracecars]

thank you. thats exactly what i was looking for. thanks again. don't know if i can get the paraffin here in the states, only seen it wax form. though i never was looking. I know how well pariffin works on aluminum, i use the wax on any abrasive cutting, sanding and die grinding. I did a quick search on the illuminating paraffin and it looks a little on the toxic side. Is it just the emmisions from it when it is burned. what preventive measures do you take when misting? what kind of work holding do you use? vacuum table/spoilboard

[bearracecars]

just looked at there stock yard photos wish i jad something like that here.
bear

[Anodizer]

I forgot to add, a parafin based cutting lubricant is made by Castrol, the car oil makers.
In our metal shop they use WD-40 as it produces less smoke, easier to remove residue, and does not smell as bad as some cutting fluids. They manually spray it on as needed.
I found The Yard when I went to Kansas for an ALEA helicopter convention. I wish I had taken my pickup instead of my Vitara! They also cut to size for an additional fee.
Fred

[bearracecars]

sorry, did more reading paraffin oil is just lamp oil. and the toxicins come from second hand smoke from being burned in lamps. did a search and Shell south africa came up and they have a whole awareness program on this.
bear

[edmond]

Hi Bear

I have a vacum table to hold down my work with a MDF spoilboard.The paraffin does make the spoilboard warp slightly but I just skim it with a 2.5inch flycutter and a 0.1mm depth cut to make it flat again otherwise no problems.

[royp]

I have Had good results using Boelube http://www.orelube.com/pages/Boelube..._Products.html
especially when applied by via an air jet misted onto the cutter

[Anodizer]

I saw Boelube at The Yard, forgot to buy some. Last weekend I was in Woodcrafter's and they are carrying the whole line. Bought some and it works great!

Fred