Guys, just switching from Cut2D to HSMepxress.

I did a slot cut today along with a few other cuts.

Here are the details:

Material: 6061 aluminum 1.5" thick

End mill, 5/16" 4 flute 1.75 flute length, 2 stick out

slot I was cutting: 5/16" wide, 1 inch long, through entire material

I cut this on my Tormach 1100

Flood coolant on

I started out with a 0.05DOC at 5100 RPM, FR of around 12 for cutting and around 4.5 for ramping and plunging.

Some of the worst chirping and screeching noises I ever heard from a mill! I was also just making aluminum powder, not chips.

I then tried going up to .1DOC, 5100 RPM, FR the same and plunge rate the same, thinking I was just rubbing and not cutting, pretty much the same results.

On both attempts I was adjusting the FR up and down in Mach3, as well as the Spindle speed to try to get better results, nothing I did mattered.

I made two slots, and it looks OK, but that must have been terrible on my end mill, and the powder probably horrible for my coolant system, would not be surprised if my pump is not ruined from that.

Can anyone give me some directionality here on how I should attempt such a cut?