[frunple]

Hey all,
I was reading around here and I mostly hear about wood mills and routers. I was interested in maybe building a vertical mill for cutting aluminum maybe 1" thick max. Is this possible or is 1" just too thick for the home made stuff?
If its possible, can someone point me to a good set of plans? Not lookin for freebies, willing to purchase the plans if they would do what iI need.
Thanks

[jeffs555]

What length and width of 1" aluminum do you need to cut, ie how much x and y travel do you need?

[ShayArnett]

for that thickness without doing alot of small passes would take a really sturdy machine

I would probably retro a mill before trying to build one for something like that.

[Ken_Shea]

frunple,
Cutting 1" thick Aluminum is very possible with a properly designed home brew mills, the more rigid the mill the deeper the possible cut (With in reasonable limits), the deeper the cut also brings in more HP requirement.

[frunple]

So can anyone point me at some plans?
I'll probably only be milling .5" aluminum, maybe .75 at most, but just thought I'd try for the inch.

[Ken_Shea]

Just to set the record straight, you are not wanting to cut at a 1" DOC as in a slot are you?

Ken

[frunple]

I mean using a piece of 1 " thick aluminum and cutting it any way I want to. Is it possible? and is it worth the effort of building it? Meaning is the finished product going to be cut right?

[DerekZahn]

You can mill 1" thick aluminum with a tiny mill like a Sherline if you are willing to cut slowly and shallowly (thus taking many slow passes to cut all the way down 1"). If you mean cutting 1" deep in one pass with an endmill, that's not very realistic.

So it's not really a question of whether you can cut 1" thick aluminum, rather it's a question of how fast (and how accurately) you can do it.

[Ken_Shea]

I hope I am not the only one a bit confused here on what it is you are wanting to do , I am not poking fun here, it is confusing when you first start and stays that way for some time, then it slowly starts to come together.

? #1) a home built Mill able to cut through 1" aluminum stock in a single pass, never going to happen, cut 1/2" in a single pass, real unlikely to happen!, ShayArnett said it correctly, it will take multiple passes to cut through 1" stock. You just do not need that kind of capability, forget it, it would take a seriously large mill with lots of HP to even entertain the idea of cutting that thick in one pass. It it is never going to be done with the cutter size that home built machines typically use. Even if it was possible it could be done more efficiently with lighter cuts and faster feeds.

Now.... no more talk about cutting 1" thick in a single pass. OK

? #2) Worth the effort ?, no one can answer that but you and you will not be able to until you've done it. I do not know of any here on this forum that has built a CNC mill or lathe that have said it was not worth the effort.Most go on to build improved models having learned from the 1'st effort.

? #3) Will it cut right, it will cut as right as you have made it right and within those limits only.

Now, where can you get the plans ??, I can't help with that, but first you need to settle on the design. Most people seem to find a design they like and then make improvement modifications as they build it.

Have you thought about converting one of the many mills that are out there ?
The Rong Fu like Enco sells seems to be popular for this. It could save you a lot of time and you could still learn a bunch converting it as well as using it as you build the conversion parts. The down side of course is that a nice amount of cash is needed right up front.

Ken

[frunple]

I never said anything about cutting 1" in one pass. Don't know why thats even coming up.
I just want to be able to cut it. Doesn't seem too confusing to me but thats just me. thanks.

[DerekZahn]

> I never said anything about cutting 1" in one pass.

In that case, to your original question:

> Is this possible or is 1" just too thick for the home made stuff?

The answer is: the thickness is irrelevant, so sure it's possible.

[jeffs555]

There is absolutely no way anyone can recommend a design, unless you give more information. The thickness is only one dimension. I asked in the first response what X and Y dimensions you need. All you have given is the Z, and just about any CNC router can cut through 1" aluminum, as long as you make enough passes with extremely thin cuts. It would also help to know how precise you need the cuts to be, and what cutting rate you would need.

[widgitmaster]

Good evening,
The way I read the first entry is a question of capacity and being large enough to hold 1" stock!
If a machine is ridgid; the feed motors have ample torque, and the spindle motor has ample horse power, anything can be done to aluminum!
Home made routers that have unsupported round rails will not work well, as there is too much spring and flex. The same machine with ridgidly mounted round rails will handle a deeper cut. The stepper or servo motors must have enough torque to move the slides, and the cutter. Because wood offers little resistance, it is the easiest machine type to build. But cutting metal requires a much stronger design. All professionally made router tables offer fully welded steel frame construction, instead of bolting pieces together! These machines can take large plates of aluminum and mill whatever shapes you desire! The best regidity is in a heavy cast iron base milling machine, with 2 horse spindle motors.
As for plans, most of us have designed our own machines, using one of the many models for router tables.

1st is a stationary table with the motor moving in three axis.
2nd is the y-axis is stationary, with the table moving under the spindle.
3rd is where the y-axis is on a ram which extends over the x-axis. The z-axis is mounted on the end of the y-axis ram.

The 1st is the most popular because the stepper motors do not have to move the weight of the workpiece, just the weight of the spindle motor.

I hope this helps answer your question!
Eric A.A.

[frunple]

Thanks Widgetmaster!! Perfect answer, I didnt think it was that hard of a question but apparently people like to read further into a question than is actually asked.
I definately want to make a stationary table type and I will be welding it all myself so its not so much the table I need plans for, its more the electronics that I'm looking for info on. Any good plans out there?

[widgitmaster]

Your welcome!
I would suggest you browse around the Gecko website, they offer a wealth of information for free!
http://www.geckodrive.com/products.cfm
Eric A.A.

[frunple]

and i thank you again! much appreciated