Machining Plans for Aluminium
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Machining Plans for Aluminium
Hi, what speeds, feed rate, step over, cutting direction etc would you recommend for machining Aluminium? The item is being imported as an STL file so we are setting up a raster roughing and finishing plan.
Re: Machining Plans for Aluminium
It depends on size and material of the tool you're using. With aluminium you want to be using a 3 flute end mill with about a 50-60 degree helix. Carbide would be ideal but you can use HSS.
You want a step over of about 10% - 15% of the tool diameter and a depth of cut of about 1x diameter. As I say, your feedrate will depend on the size and material the tool is made out of. The manufacturer of the tool will generally give you this information. Websites like cutwel.com and shop-apt.co.uk have got loads of tools and their feed rates. They've also got specialised tools for aluminium.
For a point of reference though, you can have a feed per tooth for a 10 mm end mill of about 0.035 mm and for a 6 mm end mill, 0.02 mm.
You want a step over of about 10% - 15% of the tool diameter and a depth of cut of about 1x diameter. As I say, your feedrate will depend on the size and material the tool is made out of. The manufacturer of the tool will generally give you this information. Websites like cutwel.com and shop-apt.co.uk have got loads of tools and their feed rates. They've also got specialised tools for aluminium.
For a point of reference though, you can have a feed per tooth for a 10 mm end mill of about 0.035 mm and for a 6 mm end mill, 0.02 mm.
Re: Machining Plans for Aluminium
Oh and for both those end mills at those feedrates, you can max the rpm's at 4000
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Re: Machining Plans for Aluminium
Thanks for the info.