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Choosing the right end mill for milling aluminum on a CNC router

arbj

Plastic
Joined
Mar 24, 2023
Hi,

I am very new to aluminum milling on a CNC router (FoxAlien CNC Vasto Series), I have done some milling work on a Bridgeport style machine. As these are vastly different in terms of spindle speeds & feed rates, I need help in selecting the right milling tool. I am worried about breaking end mills...

1. What tool type? Carbide or High speed steel?
2. Coated type end mill or non coated?
3. # of flutes, In my research I found most people recommend 1 flute as ideal for milling aluminum, and spindle speed of 20k. Should I buy a coated end mill?
4. Could I opt for a 2 flute end mill, just in case?
5. What type of coolant? WD40? or isopropyl alcohol (very little mess) ?


thanks
a
 
That's a light-weight machine, little stiffness, so you'll need to plan for lighter cuts and concentrate on short tools. Chip clearing is the second order worry, along with ideally a mist-coolant if you can stand the mess.

What sort of cutting are you doing? Depths, Al alloy, etc.
 
Al alloys mostly. The stocks we use are mostly like 6-10 MM thick al sheets, the features are mostly holes & slots extending to the entire depth. The other stock size is 24x20x38 MM Al bars, in this case the operations are mostly contouring along the sides, facing the front face, and holes extending to the entire depth of 24 MM. Initially most of the drilling can be done on a drill rig.

Lighter cuts are fine, as I can go slow on the whole process.

thanks
a
 
we've done some AL on our routers its always a shit show when we take on a big job its not fun to clean up especially when we need to go back to the usual wood and composite sheets afterwards cleaning up the mess and oil the job brings with it. Single O flute tools are your friend even with a good wd40 bath slotting in AL just wants to gum up. We used some 2 flute and even tried going with a 3 flute to try speeding up the job but a little gumming of the flutes and it was game over. If you have time on your side use a single flute. We use Onsrud cutters as their HQ is close to us. Don't spin RPM wide up unless you are hauling azz you want a nice big chip to take the heat away from the tool which the single flute will accomplish the best.
 
we've done some AL on our routers its always a shit show when we take on a big job its not fun to clean up especially when we need to go back to the usual wood and composite sheets afterwards cleaning up the mess and oil the job brings with it. Single O flute tools are your friend even with a good wd40 bath slotting in AL just wants to gum up. We used some 2 flute and even tried going with a 3 flute to try speeding up the job but a little gumming of the flutes and it was game over. If you have time on your side use a single flute. We use Onsrud cutters as their HQ is close to us. Don't spin RPM wide up unless you are hauling azz you want a nice big chip to take the heat away from the tool which the single flute will accomplish the best.

No I have plenty of time. Single flute sounds fine, do I go for Carbide or HSS? Coated or non coated? By the way my machine uses an ER-11 collet

thanks
a
 
Onsrude was a big name in pantagraph alu milling.

Not sure what they are into now, but look into your needs through that angle. similar in many ways.
 
I'd start with a single or two-flute carbide endmill, stub flute when available. Maybe ZrN or TiB2 coated, not critical. Light depths, multiple passes, high-ish speeds, no bigger than 1/4"/6mm to start. Try some test cuts in scrap material and change variables, note what seems to do well.

Cover the open ballscrews and ways as best you can, but make sure nothing gets entangled. I'd use a mist coolant, at the very least compressed air to move the chips from the cut zone.
 








 
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