Router Aluminum?

[Rick Fisher]

I have some 1/4" Aluminum plate that I have to make a motor mount out of.
The shop that sold it to me said.. " anything that cuts wood is fine on aluminum".

So I need some grooves.. A router would work well.

Im not trying this until I am 100% convinced.

Anyone routered aluminum before? This is full 1/4" plate aluminum. Heavy duty.

[Wade Lippman]

I did it once by accident; went through the support arm of my Omnijig without much effort.

But I have also broken teeth off a saw blade on aluminum. I would only do it if I was sure I wouldn't be hit by anything breaking off the router bit; that could ruin your whole day.

[Rick Fisher]

It just didnt make sense, so I drilled two holes and used a jig saw to cut between them.
Dont know why I didnt just think of that in the first place ...

[Steve knight]

it's hard to rout aluminum. you need slow rpms and the right feed rate and shallow passes. depending on the type some will gum up on the bit and really make life hell.

[Mike Heidrick]

Saw blade cuts it like butter. Non ferrous metal blade does a super great job on it.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

You can router Aluminum. The real problem is that your router isn't made for that application and the router will take a pounding and will tend to want to jump around.

Set it up like you were routering a dado, only a little more snug. Then take very shallow passes with the most conservative cutter bit you have for the job. I'd not consider anything larger than 3/8" as the cutter.

In theory you can cut steel this way too. You will need regular end mills as the cutters ground for wood are not correct for steel ( or aluminum). You need a router with a speed control and I suggest a fixed base just to avoid pounding the crap out of the plunge mount.

If, as you say, drilling two holes, then sawing, then filing will work for you then, by all means do that. It's be easier and faster. If you absolutely have to have a clean straight well sized slot, you can mount a small cutter in the router and take light skimming passes to clean up the sawn edges.

[Peter Quadarella]

I cut aluminum with my circular saw a good bit. It seems to dull the blade a little faster than wood - other than that it's fine.

[Greg Cole]

The high rpm's of a router will be hard on the cutter(s)...and won't be so nice on the router as Cliff said.
Milling metals is all about feed and tool speed and the speed ranges for metals and woods are very different in general.
Might work out ok but not the ideal tool for the job.

Greg

[Pete Bradley]

Woodworking tools for Aluminum comes up quite a bit, and it's a topic that attracts a lot of bad/speculative advice, so be cautious in what you read here and elsewhere.

For grooves or slots, you want the workpiece absolutely secure and you want a secure fence (or one on each side of the router base if practical) to guide the machine. I find carbide spirals work best. Aluminum grabs much more than wood. Take light passes and make sure you're seeing chips and a clean cut. Al doesn't give any visual indication that it's melting, so if you feed too hard/deep, the metal will melt around the cutter leaving a poor surface, then harden and snap the cutter when you slow down.

If you want slotted holes for an electric motor, consider using a drill press to make a row of 2-3 adjacent holes, then cleaning out the waste with a cold chisel and file. The whole process will be faster than a router setup.

Finally, if this is a motor mount for automotive use or anything else that can kill you, buy one off the shelf or get one fabricated by a professional shop.

Pete

[Rick Fisher]

Its just a plate to adapt an induction motor to a mount that is too small.

[mike holden]

The router WILL handle aluminum with a CARBIDE bit.
The first time I ever used a router was on 3/4" thick aluminum plate cutting it to fit a plastic pattern. Project was a drill fixture for aircraft panels.
The aluminum chips will get everywhere. We put the project in a room that had a commercial dust collection system built in (separate from the wood system), wore tyvek jumpsuits, and learned to make shallow passes till we got to the trim line.
Not my favorite thing to do, but it can be done.
BTW, this was in the early 70's and it was an early PC 690 router body, the carbide tipped bits were quite exotic back then.
Believe that the panels were for the v-22 Osprey, the one with the tilting nacelles that change from helicopter to airplane in flight used by the Marines.
Mike