[brian257]

I am hoping that someone can make some recommendations to me on the best end mill to use on my Bridgeport CNC conversion. Having done mostly manual milling in the past and not being overly concerned with speed I have not developed a stable of go to cutting tools for maximum speed CNC operations yet.

I need to make a bunch of parts in 6061 T6 aluminum. The major amount of metal to remove will be a pocket about 3/4" deep. I will do the outside ends of the part in the same operation and they will be anodized later so I need a fairly good looking finish. Some sections need to go a bit deeper in the plunge and the overall thickness on the sides is 1" so I need at least 1 1/8" depth of cut. I can't use over a 1/2" diameter tool due to the corner radius I need. Obviously I also need a tool that is good for plunge cutting. Since I will do tool changes manually I would prefer to not use a roughing cutter first, but if someone convinces me that it would be best I could rough parts first.

Being that I don't have a high speed spindle on the machine and the head could use rebuilding I need to keep my speed to under 2,000 RPM. I don't have flood coolant, but I will set up a misting system or Fog Buster type system. I need to do several hundred parts with about a 1.5 X 4.5" pocket so I have a lot of metal to remove. Speed and tool life are both important. Initial cost of the tool is important since I need to buy several so I don't stop work if I break one, but I do realize that an optimum carbide tool will cost me at least $50 a piece. I would like to avoid very expensive tools even if they have a very long life since when I break a tool it is usually do to doing something stupid, not because the tool is worn out.

[peaceandcalm]

hi, you want to get some cutters from these guys they are very good with 6061 aluminum
go as fast as possible with spindle speed..
2 FLUTE VARIABLE HELIX ENDMILLS FOR ALUMINUM
good luck.

[louieatienza]

With 1/2" endmills I would use 4 flutes so you can get good feedrates. I think .006-.007" chipload is a good place to start, so that is abput 48-56ipm...

I lije the ZrN coated tools from Kodiak Cutting Tools, but I also use Widia Hanita, SGS, and Onsrud tools.