How to cut aluminum.

[blake_koehn]

After searching the this forum and others I was unable to find a post that really gave me the information I needed. The purpose of this post is to show up in searches. Feel free to add your experiences to it.

After much experimenting and breaking a few bits this is what works for me. Use this info at your own risk


I have an older PRT, I used a 1/4" Onsrud cutter number 65-025 at 12000 RPM moving at 25 IPM. Depth of pass was .04" Next time I think I will bump that up to .07" possibly. I misted the bit with a little soapy water from a garden sprayer.

Use guys out there with the bigger faster Alpha's may be able to do it faster but for me and my older machine it works, besides I have more time them money anyway


Just trying to give back a little to a great forum that has helped me out so much.

[donclifton]

Try this site and give them a call. They are alway very helpfull and service most signshop which cut aluminum.
http://www.hartlauer-bits.com/HartlauerBitsList.pdf

[dana_swift]

Blake my experience is compressed air works as a coolant. Its not perfect, but it helps with cooling and chip removal. In addition it does not mess up the area with liquids that could dammage woods I will be cutting in the future.

I posted my method here:

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messages/29/47012.html?1255578107

Your setup sounds very similar to the settings I used. I also posted a video on youtube of the operation in progress:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzigLEGIFkM

I don't need to cut aluminum often, but I am delighted at the quality of results I got from the shopbot. I wont be afraid of it in the future.

And having an alpha is not a big advantage here, as the cut rates are determined by the chip size. The alpha comes into its own when cutting plywood, osb, mdf, plastics, etc. Where high feed rates and high RPMs work better.

D