Aluminum V-Inlay - 2 questions

[Burkhardt]

I am trying something new (for me), working on another jewelry idea with a small v-inlay of aluminum in wood (see picture). It is about 1.5" wide. Aluminum because it is cheaper than sterling silver, probably easier to machine and polishes just as well.

1. using the common v-inlay method I have to specify a starting depth for the inlay side to get the outline at the proper depth position. I use 0.04" and pocket the larger areas with a 2mm end mill. However, VcarvePro goes right to this starting depth which is not a good idea for a tiny end mill in aluminium so I broke 2 of them. I finally worked around that with a separate pocketing tool path and additional allowance for the Vcarve slope but that is quite cumbersome. That is normally not an issue in wood but is there a better way of doing that?

2. I broke another 2 of the end mills (fortunately quite cheap) trying to mill this piece dry, even with very light cuts and the edge looked horrible. I guess the cutting edge just heats up too much and welds with the aluminum chips. No problem however with some lubricant/coolant. I ended up dripping 50% IPA with a hint of oil and detergent. Nice clean cut but still occasional air blow needed to remove the wet chip clumps resulting in a messy router table. Question is does anybody know of a removable coolant tray system (to buy or a design to build). I would like to have something that floods the machining area and washes the chips away without splattering. Does not need to be big, maybe 12x12"

Thanks!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zNmSJEhuH8Y/VUQ_yXy6B3I/AAAAAAAAFuY/vlZXDibHUqM/w964-h639-no/DSC03099.JPG

[donek]

Your primary chalenge is going to be bonding to the aluminum. You will most likely have to do a boric acid etch and glue with epoxy. It's extremely toxic, but your best bet for a bond.

[Burkhardt]

For now I just cleaned the metal with brake cleaner spray and relied on the finely serrated machined surface to hold on to the glue (medium viscosity CA).
I am a bit hesitant about epoxy because it gets quite soft when hot and the aluminum heats up a lot when sanding.
I think not too bad for a first experiment, although apparently I did not glue the inlay sufficiently parallel and lost some of the fine detail.

But for my next trial I need to find a clean way of machining the aluminum with coolant.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LeZn3bdoyLk/VUVIGls1i0I/AAAAAAAAFus/pGPzrctYo20/w1019-h853-no/DSC03101.JPG

[scottp55]

Interesting experiment G. !
Almost tried VCarving some 99.999% Tin that Dad filled a childrens block with a year ago (1" D hole 1" deep) because of it.
He bought 70 pounds of the stuff and melted on the kitchen stove and poured it into Hard Maple and it came out better than I thought.
I always thought of Tin as being super CHEAP, but stuff was so rugged it changed the block into a "Deadly Weapon":)
Trying to remember how much of a meniscus he had--I'll ask him tomorrow.
Gave a decent appearance and he just had sandpaper and no tools at his house--- No undercut in the hole I made for him and we drop-tested to heck and gone, and it's still solid. Think I saw it this weekend...I'll take some pics just for another thought in your head:)

[scottp55]

FY(esoteric)I,
Guess I did a 1.25"D hole too.
Original after whatever the heck grit dad used and then drop tested and kicked around the shop for over a year.
Right hand block RO 320G
and then decided to touch right hand block on my diamond wetgrinder on half at 45,000G and then diamond impregnated leather 75,000G for a minute, Would be better on a hard felt wheel with polishing compound I think but in the middle of something else.
Like I said, he just heated Tin on Kitchen stove and poured it in, and THEN raced around house opening windows and destroying the evidence before my Step-Mom could see what he DID in HER kitchen :)
More useless information probably, but was just thinking.
Gotta ... (Wheel real fast):)

[scottp55]

G.
Sorry for tossing that off topic stuff in:(
But wanted to say I'll probably try a wood VInlay in that 1.25"D Tin filled block today thanks to you:)
"separate pocketing tool path and additional allowance for the Vcarve slope"
If you had pocketed out to your "start depth"on the male, couldn't you simply have run the original file then? (just wondering why an additional allowance was needed).
off topic;
Going to have Dad bring down a pound or two of Tin to play with a through cut/2 sided machining/with a VBit chamfer both sides and maybe try a pour using the wood as a mechanical bond---Thanks for getting me thinking:)
May also try using Sterling Filings and your CA technique in a standard 30degree VCarve:)
Good luck on your project....Very interesting.
Have you thought about doing wood INTO the Al, or doesn't it give you the Effect you want?
scott

[GeneMpls]

My renter is a machinist who specializes in aluminum from .25 to 1.0 mostly and recommends and gave me some waxy lube that works well and doesn't make a
mess (see photos). I have been machining a lot of alum lately making all sorts of stuff. One photo is a stabilizer for my spindle (Chicom) after I couldn't find another to match my main heavy duty mount. I made some wooden spoon-
like apparatus and melted the lube into them so I can reach thru the DCollector to apply to the warm end mill at intervals. Hope this helps as I love reading your posts. Gene

[scottp55]

Interesting Gene...May try using a wax based polishing compound this morning now.
G. ,
Just reading up on Dry/almost Dry machining and comparisons. Air only was about 25% as good as even water used with a compressed mister? Any chance you could Jury rig a mister to try?
Seemed like a lot of people were going "Dry" after a brief search.
But what do I know:(

[GeneMpls]

Scott- I googled 99.99 tin and it is expensive (25g 86.10 ) your dad must be a very rich man... might want to take reeeeeal good care of him. Gene

[scottp55]

Gene,
What do I know:)
What I do know is he bought over 70 pounds from his old company for $700 and pretty sure it had a couple extra 9's in there and what impurities there are are gas chromatographed and percentages given.
So I thought "Oh $10 a pound"
So...No good for G :(
Good selling point for me.
Dad's melting me .125 to .25" thick 2X2" squares this week.
More in the other thread when I stop cutting, so Gert doesn't cuss me out:)
Not sure if wax helped or not, used a jewelers "Hard" molding wax that they use for leaves and such, but I like it so'll keep using it for the moment.
Dad hasn't missed any meals since he sold his CNC company to the Belgians, but he certainly did when he started in the 70's with 7 kids to feed.
Yep, Think I'll keep him!!!
Sorry G.

[Burkhardt]

My renter is a machinist who specializes in aluminum from .25 to 1.0 mostly and recommends and gave me some waxy lube that works well and doesn't make a
mess (see photos). I have been machining a lot of alum lately making all sorts of stuff. One photo is a stabilizer for my spindle (Chicom) after I couldn't find another to match my main heavy duty mount. I made some wooden spoon-
like apparatus and melted the lube into them so I can reach thru the DCollector to apply to the warm end mill at intervals. Hope this helps as I love reading your posts. Gene

That is indeed interesting, I will check this stuff out. I hope it does not make a sticky goo with the fine chips?

[Burkhardt]

I....Just reading up on Dry/almost Dry machining and comparisons. Air only was about 25% as good as even water used with a compressed mister? Any chance you could Jury rig a mister to try?
Seemed like a lot of people were going "Dry" after a brief search..... I prefer machining dry, too. And it works quite well with special aluminum bits in larger diameter, e.g. 1/4". But I just could not get it to work with that small 2mm bit. Maybe there is just not enough metal in the bit to remove the heat and once the chips start sticking to the flute edge it is done. One disadvantage of dry machining is that the metal chips are flying everywhere since they are too heavy to be picked up by the DC (even aluminum but even worse with steel). That means I have to protect the computer and clean up carefully or I will find chips all over the house after they get stuck under the shoe soles. But the surface quality is usually much better when cutting wet and I can run 2 or 3 times as fast. I use a small hand sprayer but it is messy anyway and I machine metal only when I have to.

[GeneMpls]

That is indeed interesting, I will check this stuff out. I hope it does not make a sticky goo with the fine chips?

Almost no mess and my DC picks up the alum chips just fine. It comes in a 2x10 inch tube, here is my application device- I undercut the bottom of the cavity to keep
the wax from flying out and make a dam of paper when I melt the wax in so I get .5 or so above the wood. Also do 2 or 3 at a time so they last a while. Gene