Cutting diamond plate letters or buy them

[dubliner]

I've got a job to cut 12" letters from Al diamond plate, probably 1/8th or 3/16th. This will be my first Al. cutting. Could anyone give me the lowdown on types of Al, cut feeds, bits or anything else I might need to be aware of. They will be mounted by owner outdoors. or should I just buy them from one of you guys :-)

[joe]

Neville,

Like you, we ventured into cutting some AL last week. There were 77@ 4" letters from 1/4"material. I ordered 5053 and cut it with a 1/4" UP Sprial from Belin. The feed was .7 taking it down .125. Spindle speed was 14000. I'm not sure this is the way others cut, but we did all the letters with one bit and she's good to go for another round. There was no heat and not spary cooler.

I was amazed to find Scotts Plastics will water cut the same letters for the price I paid for the materials. Gotta wait three weeks though.

Good Thoughts and hope it goes well.

[bernott]

Most DP from our supplier is 3003-h14 grade. your supplier may be able to get 5000 grade but if all you can get is 3000 then use a HSS single flute bit using joe's numbers.
3003 grade will take a smaller cut also the DP will have the tread to deal with so I would do a cut depth of .02 @ .7feed and ramp into the material.
the 5000 will allow for a deeper cut.

Just my 2 cents....mybe 1 cent...ok FREE

[bernott]

here are the ribs I did for a sign last week out of 5000 grade .250 thick then added cap strips, I am now cutting the faces out of .080 3003 grade.
5774
5775

[toych]

I cut over 200 small pieces from Octolux sheets Al with similar #s to Joe and Bernie's with an Onsrud 1/8 O flute. I found climb cutting to give better results.

No cooling is needed as the bit never reached more than 4 degrees above ambient.

Darren

[lou_casartelli]

I've cut a lot of 5052 and 6061 aluminum. doesn't matter the thickness. The lower the series number the softer the aluminum. Just get the right settings... Trial and error..... I cut at 2ipm 24k rpm .0625 step down with onsrud super "o" single flute. No need for lube or air for cooling. Cuts great!
Lou

[joe]

Lucien,

I've heard the 3032 or softer materials don't have as good a chip load and are more difficult to work with. Is this true?

[bernott]

Joe 3032 is very soft and is hard to dail in BUT it can be done. but after talking with Brady and Onsrud I ended up with 40-*** HSS tool. it's more forgiving in the softer AL's

[majohnson]

While I haven't cut AL with my Shopbot, I have ran a considerible amounts of AL through my mill. Using 6061 will make your life much easier.

[joe]

Mark,

Hows that? 6061 is the hardest AL I've seen. It's more like steel.

I had a customer, a couple of years back, who provided six sheets of 5000 series to be cut. The supply house snuck in a single unit of 6000 without anyone knowing. You can't tell by looking. That cost me two Belin bits and a whole 5'X10'sheet.

It can be done but at a much slower travel speed. Why O Why would you ever option for 6000?

[pro70z28]

I've cut many parts for my camaro from 3/4" aluminum.
These door hinges as an example

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Hinges5-10-07-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Hinges5-10-07-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/hingespolished9-15-08.jpg

Can't tell you exactly what kind of aluminum it is. I bought a fairly large plate of it from a salvage yard (used).

[pro70z28]

Here's a video of the hinges.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwQmyyHOoO4&feature=channel_page