Feeds and speeds for aluminium

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05 Feb 2023 05:15 #263737 by SimonCNC123
Hi Folks, could anyone please give me some guidance on feeds and speeds for milling/engraving aluminium with a BALL end mill? I can get a perfect cut with a 3mm FLAT end mill running 15920rpm, and 764mm/min with 0.5mm depth of cut, but when I try to run the BALL end mill I cant seem to find any happy combination of speed and feed. I would very much appreciate if someone can give me their settings that have worked for them. My machine has a max spindle speed 18000rpm.

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22 Feb 2023 01:22 #265000 by my1987toyota
I know this is 15 days later but. What coolant/lubricant are you using? Is the cutter loading up with chips? Are you using
flood coolant or mist? If mist are you using a secondary air blast to clear chips while cutting? I am asking because I
have a suspicion you are re-cutting chips which leave a bad surface finish. Also what grade of aluminum are you cutting? 
Granted I haven't cut with that size endmill at that high of RPM before but even runout can become a real problem
in those size ranges.

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23 Feb 2023 20:58 #265150 by andypugh

Granted I haven't cut with that size endmill at that high of RPM before but even runout can become a real problem
in those size ranges.

This was covered by ToT (at excessive length) in a recent YouTube video. 

But if the acceptable chip load for a 3mm cutter is 0.08mm and your collet has .04mm runout then one flute is cutting too much and one is cutting too little. At small sizes it is probably worth getting one very good collet. (and checking your spindle taper bore too) 
 
The following user(s) said Thank You: my1987toyota

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