[J.A.C]

Hi, Im new to the forum, I been reading lot about different threads for cutting Aluminum. I still comfuse and dont know what to do. hope you people can help me I have lot of question about cnc router . Let me try to explain my proble. I have a small table top mill at home to make some aluminum parts after work and weekends (Aluminum brackets) but it takes too long and not cost effective. so I been thinking about a cnc router. I been serching to buy one or make one, deppending on price any way. I know people here knows alot for what i have read so far. so I like to know
how many HP router be the best to machine 1/2'' Aluminum. and if it is possible to do with a cnc router? I ask my other question later?

Thank You

Jaime

[stk2008]

I use a wood router and tbh I have no end of issues cutting ally i find the router dont go slow enough im still stuggling

[fizzissist]

The heavy duty Porter Cable router with soft start runs right through aluminum plate. With a radius cutter you can get a beautiful radius that only needs a touch of sanding/polishing..

(NOTE:!! "Cable router" shows up as a hot link...don't bother clicking on it..it just takes you to Ebay for some pretty Linksys routers, totally unrelated)

[louieatienza]

You can cut aluminum as fast as your machine will let you. Provided you have enough horsepower, the limiting factors are spindle speed and feedrate.

[fatal-exception]

High feed rates are required with high spindle speeds, which also translates into high horsepower and machine rigidity. If you get all that right, your router will cut aluminum all day with no problems.

With a Bosch Colt router, I can get good results with up to 1/8" endmills. 70ipm, .03 doc, not sure of the rpm, but somewhere around 25k.

[J.A.C]

Thank you for all your help, now my second question be. If I decide to built a 2' X 3' (I only have space for one that size in my garage for now). What size stepper motors should I use? Should I go with presiscion acme thread rod or ball screw rod and what size?

Thank you

Jaime

[Falcon69]

Jaime, I thought just like you, I thought small at first, now I'm thinking bigger.

The car can stay outside. LOL

Just the unlimited things you can do with a Large CNC.

But, I'm no expert, I'm learning just like you, but a Router that small I'd stay with NEMA 23 motors (maybe even a Nema 17 for the Z?)

If you want the machine as accurate as you can possibly built it, don't skimp on components. While acme threads can get you a nice machine, a ballscrew will do better. A bigger machine, as most here will probably back me up, Ring and Pinion for the X and Y axis is the way to go.

As for diameter of ACME or Ballscrew for that size of a machine, I would think a 20mm would be good, or maybe even 16mm. I wouldn't go smaller, you start getting whip, if I've read other posts on here right. Whip = Flex/Backlash = BAD.

[BobWarfield]

Jaime, one of the most popular posts on my blog are these 10 tips for cutting aluminum with a router:

10 Tips for CNC Router Aluminum Cutting Success « CNCCookbook CNC Blog CNCCookbook CNC Blog

There isn't really a minimum HP to cut aluminum. Rather, you will find that the rigidity of your router will limit the amount of HP you can actually put to work before things start flexing too much.

Best,

BW