CAMaster Stinger II rack and pinion when cutting aluminum

[Jim Becker]

No vacuum. It's only really good for sheet goods and I don't use that much sheet goods. For small parts, vacuum requires fixtures designed for the purpose. This is all due to the laws of gravity, believe it or not. But if you do decide to do a vacuum table, the phenolic machine top is awesome for that for sure.

BTW, be sure you are careful about what kind of aluminum you cut on CNC. Some varieties "gum up" tooling lickety-split and that pretty much guarantees the tooling will snap.

[David Buchhauser]

After doing some test aluminum machining on my Avid CNC table, and seeing what a huge mess it can make with coolant and all, I decided that it is probably not a great idea to machine metal on the same cnc router table to be used for wood routing. That was the reason I purchased a second Avid CNC Pro table with ATC spindle to be used specifically for cutting aluminum and other nonferrous materials. I know the Avid spec sheet says +/- 0.005" or better for Accuracy - but I think that is misleading. I have machined some brass, aluminum, and acrylic parts and have often held better than +/- 0.002" tolerance on the finished part dimensions.

[Mick Simon]

Along these lines, I'll re-emphasize that if you do cut both wood and aluminum on the same machine, do not use dust collection with the aluminum. The hot chips can (and have) start a fire.

[Craig Day]

No vacuum. It's only really good for sheet goods and I don't use that much sheet goods. For small parts, vacuum requires fixtures designed for the purpose. This is all due to the laws of gravity, believe it or not. But if you do decide to do a vacuum table, the phenolic machine top is awesome for that for sure.

BTW, be sure you are careful about what kind of aluminum you cut on CNC. Some varieties "gum up" tooling lickety-split and that pretty much guarantees the tooling will snap.

Thanks for the tip! Quick question... how high is the table surface with spoil board on your Stinger II from the ground? I'm contemplating going with the Stinger III in 4x8 but this might interfere with my tablesaw out feed so curious if I'd clear the top of the CNC table or if If have to raise my tablesaw a bit.