Milling Aluminum???

[Carroll Courtney]

Guys just wondering about routing a 3/8 slot in apiece of 1/8 thick alum.using a Griz DP(16spd) or using a router w/5speeds.The DP I think that I can be more accurate with vs the router using a pivit point on both due to that I can see it better.If you had a choice on both which would you use and is a slower speed better than a higher rpm's and would you do it in one pass vs multi passes?Working on my delta 34-555 slider(Phil's Mod) putting the finishing touches on it.Tks----Carroll

[Jerrimy Snook]

Carol,

Drill press with a 3/8" endmill (even a HF cheapie would be ok) and some sort of lubricant-- bees wax, WD40, paraffin.
Cut slowly as some drill chucks are just pressed into the taper and will not handle much side load.

Jerrimy

[John TenEyck]

I've milled 1/4" aluminum plate several times with a carbide bit in my single speed router. Sorta scarey, but never had any problems, and the finished edges are beautiful. Just take light passes and be prepared to clean up a lot of metal chips.

[pat warner]

My thing: Routing, drilling, sawing and grinding aluminum x many years.
What you're talking about: Without priors, I would expect nothing but trouble, possible injury and adversity. A killjoy? Maybe, but I would not do what you're planning especially in skinny stock you can't fixture.
Perhaps with professional hands-on instruction, but from ground zero: No.

[Bruce Page]

Carroll, I would go with the router and jig. Set the router at its slowest speed. It has been my experience when using an end mill in a drill press chuck that the chuck can work itself loose due to the side loading and vibration. If you do use the DP make sure the chuck is tightly seated by retracting the chuck jaws and hammering the chuck home with a hammer and block of wood.
Milling into 1/8 thick aluminum implies that the slot will not be very deep so I would just go full depth unless you need to sneak up on a critical depth.
WD-40 is an excellent lubricant for aluminum but just about any oil will work.
RPM is not overly critical with aluminum in a non-production environment. It will cut well at 1000 or 10,000 rpm. I usually mill it at ~700 rpm on my mill mostly because my mill is old and I don’t like to run it at full speed. ~700 works well for me.

[Ray Newman]

‘Dunno’ about the feasibility of milling aluminum with a router.

Thinking that good dust collection is necessary to keep the aluminum chips from somehow ending up in router’s innards. Might not happen, but with my luck, it would….

When done, it just might pay the blow out the router with a prolonged stream of compressed air to remove any chips, etc.

[Greg Visser]

if it's a straight cut, a carbide dado blade would be my choice.

[Bruce Page]

‘Dunno’ about the feasibility of milling aluminum with a router.

Thinking that good dust collection is necessary to keep the aluminum chips from somehow ending up in router’s innards. Might not happen, but with my luck, it would….

When done, it just might pay the blow out the router with a prolonged stream of compressed air to remove any chips, etc.

Machine shops/job shops do it all the time when they need to put a corner round on large Al plates. The business end of a router blows exhaust not intake.

I would use a small brush to clean up. Using compressed air can blow chips into the innards and then you will have a problem.

[Carroll Courtney]

Thanks guys for the ideals and it work!!!!Sometimes when I post here I think that others know what I am thinking and I forget to give details.I will get better when asking for help and provide the details such as using a jig here for this routing.I thought that I would post some pics and it came out pretty good,not perfect but next time.Anyway,all I need to do now is clean it up,do some sanding and buffing and next time I hope it will look like chrome.Tks---Carroll

[Bruce Page]

That looks pretty darn nice Carroll!
Once properly jigged, cutting aluminum with a router is not a big deal at all.

[Paul Saffold]

Looks like it came out OK Carroll. I had one of those PC routers. I was so glad when it finally died. Such a pain to adjust.

[Carroll Courtney]

I don't care for them either Paul,its not my go to router.----Carroll

[Kevin Presutti]

I have to agree with Pat on this one. Thin stock can be dangerous unless properly clamped down, tearing would be the issue here and that generally leads to bad results. I will say it turned out well for this being your first attempt. I may consider doing this but would mill the slot first using a larger piece of stock that could be clamped securely then cut to size or shape. I would prefer to use a variable speed router set at a very low speed and feed rate as aluminum tends to gall at high speeds and I would never wade right into it, several light passes I would think along with some type of lube. Glad everything worked out well for you.

[Steve knight]

the tricks to aluminum is if at all possible use 6061 or harder as it tends to mill well. a single flute bit called a O flute is the best bit for cutting it. of course they are expensive a 1/4" is at least 35.00 onsrud is a good brand for them. 15k or so is a good speed I cut it at 14k on my cnc router. light passes work best.