Re: Ethanol mist for cutting aluminium
Quote:
Originally Posted by
matt-b2
With regards to just using cold air, I've never had much luck cutting aluminium dry. I use uncoated carbide tooling and regardless of what speed I'm cutting at, I always end up clogging my cutters without some sort of lubrication present.
Matt.
Well your doing it wrong then. I cut dry pretty much all the time using Carbide tooling with just touch of air and odd squirt of coolant.
Your most likely cutting too Shallow. Carbide likes to be worked hard.
Another Myth is that single and Twin flute cutters are needed for Ali. 3 flute work perfectly well and allow higher feed rates with more DOC.
My Standard setup is 3 Flute serated edge roughing cutter followed with 0.35 finish pass with Twin flute. The Rougher allows quick stock removal with high DOC.
Re: Ethanol mist for cutting aluminium
Second dry cutting aluminium with carbide. I use 2 flute. I never use lubricant. You need to go fast and dont be shy :-)
With mql probably provides a slightly better surface finish and longer tool life..
Re: Ethanol mist for cutting aluminium
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JAZZCNC
Well your doing it wrong then.
Hi Dean - I have no doubt in my mind that you're absolutely right. I'd love to run without any coolant, I've seen plenty of videos of other machines (yours included) happily munching through aluminium without any coolant present, so I know it must be possible, but I've not achieved it yet. Clearly I need to experiment more. So far, I've tended to play it safe by running plenty of coolant just because, for me at least, it leads to less disasters, even if it's a sub-optimal way of doing things.
Matt.
Re: Ethanol mist for cutting aluminium
Re: Ethanol mist for cutting aluminium
Ooooh... I think he is definately close to the edge of what that tool will take.
All good fun :-)
interesting video, cheers!
Re: Ethanol mist for cutting aluminium
He certainly seems to be pushing that endmill pretty hard - Not sure my spindle/steppers would be up to that although I think I can push them a lot harder than I currently do.
In the next couple of weeks, I'll find some time to stick a block of 6082-T6 on my machine and play with the cutting parameters - I've done that in the past to land on a set of figures that work okay with plenty of coolant. I think it is time to revisit the experiment with an aim to push my machine harder both with and without coolant.
I'd quite like to experiment with different endmill geometries too (i.e. number of flutes), but I haven't got the cash to be forking out on loads of different endmills right now, so I'm probably stuck testing with 2-flute tools.
Matt.
Re: Ethanol mist for cutting aluminium
Carbide 2 flute seem to work great for alu in my experience. With or without coolant..
Re: Ethanol mist for cutting aluminium
Olive oil work perfectly for threading, better than specialised oils. I am threading a lot of aluminum and brass. Emulsify it with water , mist it and prepare your salad.
Re: Ethanol mist for cutting aluminium
Interesting. Couple of small possible problems. You have to clean up well immediately - oil will go off and smell, water will rust your machine. That is the attraction of a liquid with no water...
Re: Ethanol mist for cutting aluminium
Quote:
Originally Posted by
matt-b2
He certainly seems to be pushing that endmill pretty hard - Not sure my spindle/steppers would be up to that although I think I can push them a lot harder than I currently do.
In the next couple of weeks, I'll find some time to stick a block of 6082-T6 on my machine and play with the cutting parameters - I've done that in the past to land on a set of figures that work okay with plenty of coolant. I think it is time to revisit the experiment with an aim to push my machine harder both with and without coolant.
I'd quite like to experiment with different endmill geometries too (i.e. number of flutes), but I haven't got the cash to be forking out on loads of different endmills right now, so I'm probably stuck testing with 2-flute tools.
Matt.
I'd like to revive this slightly old thread.
I have flood on my Triac, it works well but I had the residue / mess it leaves over time.
Id love to cut dry if possible. Since I've upgraded to a 1.5 KW AC Servo Spindle, I may also take some test cuts with smaller (read, cheaper) endmills and see what I can do before I break them.
How do Datron manage with Ethanol cutting without the health / risks?