Tips for cutting 1050 aluminium

[d4cnc]

Hi,
I did my first cuts in aluminium with the 6040 today, but they didn't go great.
The holes went ok.. (pocketing with single flute 3mm carbide (Alu power from Cutwel).
But when it came the outside contours.. (slotting) I used the same settings and broke the bit.


I believe it may be due to not clamping the 1.5mm thin sheet well enough, and as it was cutting, it made sort of a bend point, and then closed up into the bit trapping it..


However, the finish is very bad too.. Is this type of finish something that is recognizable problem.. too slow feed? Too high rpm? Too deep a cut?


There's not a lot of info that I could find on cutting 1050 (it's not in my HSM calculator) so I went by this thread where someone is suggesting settings that worked.


I used 13k RPM. 600mm/min. 0.5mm DOC. 200mm/min ramp plunge.


The bit broke halfway along a slot on the second pass.


Any help greatly appreciated!