Cutting Aluminium With A Cheapo 3020 CNC

Hi Guys,

I have read a bunch of threads on here, but think most of them apply to proper machines, not ones like my little toy. This is the machine I have if you need more info.

Here is the spindle info...

• Spindle motor: spindle motor with direct current(200w)
• Cutting tool-holder: ER11/3.175mm
• Spindle speed: 300～8000RPM/MIN (PWM stepless speed regulating)
• Spindle precision :radial beat acuities 0.03 mm

Very basic as you can see, but for milling PCBs it works great.

I have the need to cut some 2mm Aluminium plate and as this is probably going to be a one off, don't want to invest in upgrading the machine.

Any suggestions on what type of cutters, DOC, speed etc would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Les

I'd go with 3mm Single Fute Spiral Cutters like these -

Carbide Engraving CNC Router Bits Single Flute Spiral Endmill Cutting Tool 1/8" | eBay

I've been using one of these cutters to profile small plates from .7mm Titanium plate and it's working very well, I've also found that they're very easy to resharpen on a fine grinding wheel as the geometry of the single flute is not complex.
Stick your work down to a spoil board/plate with strong double sided tape and use a Profiling Feature which ramps down into the work a set depth per circuit of the profile.
Try with a .2mm per pass ramp down into the work and if everything's smooth at that increase your feed until it starts to sound a little less smooth then back off a tad.
For feeds & Speeds download the free trial of HSM Advisor here -

Advanced CNC Speed And Feed Calculator - HSMAdvisor

It's nothing short of toptastic, it gives me a good start point every time and Mach3's feed override allows me to creep up to the edge of the envelope for my job, tooling and setup

Thanks for the reply.

I noticed that it doesn't list Aluminium as a suitable material for those bits though.

As there seems to be a limited range of bits with a 3.175mm shank, I wondered if it was worth getting another size collet?

Regards,

Les

Someone mentioned this site recently, they have a great range of cutters etc.
Search Results Associated Production Tools

Edit: It was 'Washout' here; http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/tool-t...html#post57533 Thanks by the way Washout I'll be getting some from there myself.

If it is only for very occasional use (cutting ally) Just take it very steady and go for it. I sometimes cut ally with my converted pcb machine and I can only use 1/8" shank cutters. I use 1/8" 2flute carbide spiral down cutters as they are the largest cutters I have.
I limit the DOC to 0.5mm, spindle speed about 18k rpm and feed speed about 400mm/min. I use WD40 as cutting fluid applied in small doses so as not to make much mess. After a couple of passes the fluid tends to just stay in the "trench". I do not produce chips as such, more like ally filings which just swim about in the trench. I know that the afficionados will frown upon this method, but it does allow me to cut ally if I wish. G.

Thanks for the help guys, I managed to do it by taking it slow. I don't think this machine will cope with some of the speeds suggested, but it did it ok in 0.2mm steps at 100mm/min.

Regards,

Les