steve can the lower end grizzleys like we are talking about obtain 600ipm milling speeds? the mill work in the vid is at 600 ipm
http://www.grizzly.com/products/10-X...-Machine/G0499
jim
steve can the lower end grizzleys like we are talking about obtain 600ipm milling speeds? the mill work in the vid is at 600 ipm
http://www.grizzly.com/products/10-X...-Machine/G0499
jim
Last edited by james mcgrew; 10-06-2009 at 5:23 PM.
bryan i would like to try this, if you are willing send me spec on what you would like to see and i will mill it and film it on my x3
jim
from what I have seen that's not 600ipm. I may be mistaken but I doubt a thermwood could cut aluminum that thick at 600ipm. that would take a pretty powerful mill to handle that load. most cnc routers that we use here could not cut plywood that fast. most of what I ahve seein is at 50 to 200 ipm.
Bryan have you looked at getting the pieces cut on a waterjet? sometimes they can do it for less then you could buy the aluminum for.
Steve knight
cnc routing
maybe i missed it, these specs were posted below the video
Software: TrueMill in SURFCAM Velocity
Material: Aluminum 6061
Spindle Speed: 14000 RPM (1832 SFM)
Programmed Feedrate: 600 IPM | 15240 MMPM
Cutting Tool: .500 Inch Dia. - Data Flute
Axial Depth Of Cut: 0.500 In. | 12.7mm
jim
this thermwood video is closer to the speeds stated above. to cut aluminum at that speed you need a massively good hold down method and a very rigid machine. even cutting aluminum at 100 ipm takes a lot of hold down. the vibration is pretty bad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg7s4PEBsm0
Steve knight
cnc routing
Aluminum has the same cutting properties as plastic. Onsrud & Southeast Tool catalogs will state this the same bits will cut both. We mill (on a router) 6061 up to ¾” thick at 12000 rpm, 50-75 ipm, and on the thick stuff you saw in the video we go 0.10” per pass with a plunge rate of 30 ipm.
Hope this helps
being that we are in this disscusion (and i am learning some things) i took these pics before i left the shop, these are my new gantry plates for raising my "Z" another 2", joey milled these for me three weeks ago on a camaster cnc in georgia, the video of the thermwood at 100 ipm looks doable with a 1/2" or 3/8" bit, one should also note that in these videos there is chilled air being blown on the aluminum.
cooling the chips is imperative i am gonna cut some bar legs soon out of 1/2" and have always wanted to build a new plenum out of aluminum, i have a new 4x4 with the x3 head and a lathe coming from camaster in the next few weeks i might be able to cut it before it gets here, every once in a while i get to go into some of the nascar racing shops above charlotte they have these big haas mils like the one in the video for surfcam, one of the things i like most about the routers i have is how universal they are, there has yet to be an application i cannot easily reconfigure for.
jim
if you use the right aluminum and the right bit you can get away without cooling. using the harder 6000 series is a must. I have never had the right material. I have a couple of bids right now for cutting it. one is a 3d file. it is a real pain to hold the material in place. there is a lot of force in the cutting.
Steve knight
cnc routing
Definitely a lot of information going around, I appreciate it.
From the information I've read and the videos I've seen, a ShopBob and CAMaster CNC Router are capable of processing aluminum. My sheets are no more than 1/8" thick and all the videos I've been seeing are processing much thicker sheets. Because I'm using 1/8" thickness, less passes will be required.
There has been mention of how to hold down the aluminum. Would it be fair to say I could drill the four corners of the sheets and screw them into the spoil board?
How often do spoil boards need to be replaced? What material are they? If cutting 1/8" thick aluminum, how deep would the bit go into the spoil board?
What kind of power is required for a ShopBot and/or CAMaster; 110, 220? My garage isn't wired for 220, currently.
What kind of noise should I expect when routing aluminum?
Attached are two drawings of aluminum plates I manually cut on a regular basis. They are the smallest of my line-up. Others can be greater than 12" x 12" -- those are challenging to do manually, let me tell you
Again, I'm not looking for blinding speed. I'm looking for consistency along with removing myself from the operation. I want to accomplish this for the least amount of money without buying garbage.
I have thought about contacting local machine shops but because I cannot guarantee certain volumes, the prices are astronomical. I try to manage JIT inventory. I don't want to have hundreds of plates on the shelf just because I can save a few nickels up front.
In addition, I like toys. If a CNC router can do what I want with aluminum, it may open up other doors for me. Like James said "one of the things i like most about the routers i have is how universal they are, there has yet to be an application i cannot easily reconfigure for"
That's cool.
Last edited by Bryan Cowan; 10-07-2009 at 2:57 PM.
We cut aluminum all the time up to 3/4" 6061 we travel at 50-75 ipm at a depth of 0.10" per pass.
bryan i run a fairly large shop and today is active i will show you this file tonight or so!!
jim
Awesome, let me know!
it will take a minute of practice as i do not have an 82 degree bit but i can do it at 45 degrees, the screen shot is an 82 but i did not adjust depth yet
jim