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mccoy178
03-25-2014, 07:30 PM
Hello all,

I have wanted to make a 3D aluminum cut for a long time. I just could not wrap my brain around pass depth's, cut speeds, and cooling. But I was very conservative and it worked out.

Details:
The Items:
1. I am creating a Blue Moon kegorator for my home and I have wanted these for the sides for some time.
2. The block is 6061 aluminum .75"x22"x25".

Design:
1. Aspire was used to turn the 2D object into the 3D object.

The Cutting Process:
1. I used a .25 end mill upcut bit for the 3D roughing. Cut depth was .004/pass, spindle speed was 9,000rpm, and feed rate was 2" per sec. Clearance was .004 and .1" for the outside border.
2. A .25 ball nose was used for 3D finishing. Cut speed was 2" per second and I used a 4% overlap.
3. WD40 was used as a coolant and you can see my clay wall that contained the liquid from spilling. A gallon of WD40 was $16, and I used it as needed.

mccoy178
03-25-2014, 07:36 PM
Here are some final photos.

The small tabs are still attached. The next step is to encase it in cherry that has a thin boards and an inset on the back side for blue led's to be hidden by.

phd1658
03-25-2014, 07:55 PM
Impressive, Ben. I keep thinking I'll try aluminum some time, but seems like every project I do leads to ten more. It's still on my "to do" list :)

mccoy178
03-31-2014, 12:33 AM
Here is the Cherry holders. I need to get the led's installed to see if it works as intended.

mccoy178
03-31-2014, 12:35 AM
There must be an easier way to upload with an iPhone.

mccoy178
03-31-2014, 12:36 AM
Two more pics.....

mccoy178
03-31-2014, 12:37 AM
Last photo.

gundog
03-31-2014, 03:57 PM
Nice job and my favorite beer.

mccoy178
03-31-2014, 11:10 PM
Thanks! I'm a big fan as well. I put in the LED's to see if I had enough overlap to avoid seeing them. It worked out quite well. Next is the lettering.

mccoy178
04-04-2014, 01:59 PM
Here are the 3D corian letters.

mccoy178
04-04-2014, 02:00 PM
Although they are correctly oriented on my computer, I can not answer why they are in various angles on here.

rustnrot
04-20-2014, 03:51 PM
This is very interesting as I am going to be doing my first aluminum very shortly.

1. Once you "add" the WD40 to the "clay tray" do you need to make up for loss as it cuts? Did a bunch get on the spoil board?

2. Do you use any vacuum for the chips?