Tips for working with aluminum

rvieceli said:
[member=8712]Richard/RMW[/member] Whilw I'm all for trying new stuff and being self sufficient, might be a time to visit a pro. After trying for a few years to get my son to buy a Bridgeport I've about goven up  [sad]

The is still a working machine shop in my vicinity with real machinists, (down from about 4 shops). If I'm nice and polite and mention that I'm not in a rush, they will do stuff for me  [tongue]

It is rarely more than an hour to an hour and a half of machine time since they charge from set up to clean up.

Might not cost that much to get what you want.

there are also some cnc laser folks online that will do as little as a one-off if you send them a dxf file . Even some that will work with jpg and pdf

Ron
Click to expand...

I may go that route, but the MIC-6 was only $40 on eBay so I figured I'd give it a try. It's an addiction thing...

I was originally going to use sendcutsend but I tested them with some simple brackets and the laser cut finish was not good enough. They are an awesome company and hugely patient coaching me thru the learning curve to get them files they could use but laser just won't work for this project. Also, their material is nowhere close to flat enough to use as a fence, again not a complaint just the limitation of their offerings. This is what led me to MIC-6 for the flatness.

I did end up with some very nice adjustable stops from the experiment...

[attachimg=1]

Thanks.

RMW
 

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V2.0 of the fence in the photo, with an indexed material stop. Like I said, it's an addiction.

RMW
 
I made a table for my drill press out of mic6. It’s nice to work with an prices have really jumped. I had a strip of mic6 I wanted to use as a fence. It had two rough saw cuts on the long edges. I had them machine the edges flat and parallel to each other within a thousandth and I think it was about 80 bucks.

Ron
 
The cutting speed of a router is almost certainly too fast for aluminum. A single cutter will be effectively slower that a double, but probably still too fast. There are cutting speed charts on the Internet. Look them up.

Consider phenolic sheets. Dimensionally stable and some grades are very strong. The paper laminate phenolic is the cheapest, and may be satisfactory. Much stronger grades made with linen are available. You can machine these with a router much like a very thick sheet of Formica.

The company I used to work for made short run stamping tools using phenolic sheets as the die base and mounting the punches in the phenolic. These tools typically were used for fewer than 5,000 piece runs, but occasionally they could stretch a little beyond that.

It is dimensionally unaffected by heat and cold. Do some Internet research to see if it makes sense.
 
Packard said:
The cutting speed of a router is almost certainly too fast for aluminum. A single cutter will be effectively slower that a double, but probably still too fast. There are cutting speed charts on the Internet. Look them up.

Consider phenolic sheets. Dimensionally stable and some grades are very strong. The paper laminate phenolic is the cheapest, and may be satisfactory. Much stronger grades made with linen are available. You can machine these with a router much like a very thick sheet of Formica.

The company I used to work for made short run stamping tools using phenolic sheets as the die base and mounting the punches in the phenolic. These tools typically were used for fewer than 5,000 piece runs, but occasionally they could stretch a little beyond that.

It is dimensionally unaffected by heat and cold. Do some Internet research to see if it makes sense.
Click to expand...

I'd love to use phenolic, but my own experience is you cannot trust it to be truly flat. Because of the use flatness is the most critical aspect. I used 3 knobs in V1.0 to pull it against the extrusion and still had to capture the ends of the Alcubond panel to ensure flatness along the entire length.

Thanks to all for the input.

RMW
 
Packard said:
Here is an aluminum cutting speed chart. http://www.duramill.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2015-Speed-and-Feed-Guide.pdf

In any case you can throw the chart out the window if you use phenolic sheet instead.
https://www.piedmontplastics.com/blog/phenolic-sheet-explained
https://www.americanmicroinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/le-phenolic-datasheet.pdf
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To use that chart you have to change the SFM to RPM, here's the formula.

RPM = (3.82 x SFM)/Diameter of cutter

So, if you want to maintain a rate of 800 SFM, a 1/4" dia cutter should be turning at 12,224 RPM...or there abouts.

Also those speeds look a bit fast, especially for uncoated tooling, I've always used the range of 500 SFM to 1500 SFM. Here's the chart I use.

[attachimg=1]

Interestingly enough, Festool recommends using their routers for aluminum work. Here's an excerpt from the 1010, the 1400 & the 2200 owners manual.

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Now this item surprised me initially, but after thinking about it, it does make sense for edging or radiusing aluminum. This is an excerpt from the MFK 700 owners manual.

[attachimg=5]
 

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Here's a video of a guy using a plain Jane Dewalt router to machine aluminum. The fixture he made to hold the aluminum panel is particularly well done.  [smile]
=8
 
I've seen two axis tables used with drill presses as an ersatz milling machine.

The bearings on drill presses are designed for vertical movement; not horizontal movement, so I don't know what this does to the drill press. For light work, it is probably OK.  Just $145.00.
https://www.vevor.com/rotary-table-...MIuPih54SA-AIVF6_ICh1H_AqvEAkYCSABEgKY6PD_BwE

Northern Tool sells a bench top milling machine for $1,000.00. I've bought some of their own branded equipment and they have always been of good to excellent quality. 
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200660255_200660255
 
Packard said:
I've seen two axis tables used with drill presses as an ersatz milling machine.

The bearings on drill presses are designed for vertical movement; not horizontal movement, so I don't know what this does to the drill press. For light work, it is probably OK.  Just $145.00.
Click to expand...

The real issue with a drill press is tool slippage in the chuck. You need collets or diamond coated chuck jaws to prevent tool slippage and I'm not completely sure that diamond coated chuck jaws will work every time.
 
For milling aluminum?  I've seen people use drill presses as milling machines in the past. Perhaps for tool steel, special chucks would be needed.  But not for light gage aluminum.

This guy upgraded the bearings, but is using the stock chuck.
 
If you have a Nova Voyager, it can be converted to Nova Vulcan (discountinued milling drill press)  One guy on youtube did the conversion and there are 3 part videos of the process with part lists

Part 1 of 3
 
festal said:
If you have a Nova Voyager, it can be converted to Nova Vulcan (discountinued milling drill press)  One guy on youtube did the conversion and there are 3 part videos of the process with part lists
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I believe Nova is no longer selling the additional parts needed to convert it to a collet chuck system.
 
festal said:
If you have a Nova Voyager, it can be converted to Nova Vulcan (discountinued milling drill press)  One guy on youtube did the conversion and there are 3 part videos of the process with part lists

Part 1 of 3
Click to expand...

That ship has sailed. I watched those videos. The Vulcan is no longer sold by Nova and no parts available to convert/backfit a Voyager they told me in an email last year. I was looking for a Vulcan but had to settle for the Voyager, and I think I was lucky to get that the way things have been the past two years.
 
Bob D. said:
festal said:
If you have a Nova Voyager, it can be converted to Nova Vulcan (discountinued milling drill press)  One guy on youtube did the conversion and there are 3 part videos of the process with part lists

Part 1 of 3
Click to expand...

That ship has sailed. I watched those videos. The Vulcan is no longer sold by Nova and no parts available to convert/backfit a Voyager they told me in an email last year. I was looking for a Vulcan but had to settle for the Voyager, and I think I was lucky to get that the way things have been the past two years.
Click to expand...

figures lol. 
 
Here's another information guide from Travers with speeds & feeds for aluminum milling, profiling & slotting. Again, using solid carbide tooling with 37° to 45° helixes and ZrN coatings.
https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/...3b7b23ff|0a0c4518-503c-42b7-9a40-f18e33ec61b3

Here's a Hole Making Guide from Travers. The key points for most will be drill point angles, drill bit materials & drill bit finishes/coatings.
https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/...1926bf33|63f7ba03-541b-4c89-a936-68d40861b340
 
In regard to Pat Warner- 

I never got around to ordering his ebooks (or newsletters, I think he called them) until it was too late.  His business was not continued by anybody after his passing.  And it doesn't seem right to ask for a free copy from somebody who has them.   

Is there any ethical way to share the info in them? 

 
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