Cutters for 7075 T6 aluminium

[Voicecoil]

Looks like I have a little project coming up that will use this stuff :joyous: Has anyone worked with it before I wonder and if so do you have any advice on the type of cutters? Is it best to go with the normal uncoated aluminium type, or as it's rather stronger are the coated type normally used on steel better? All input gratefully recieved, thanks.

[JAZZCNC]

It's not that much different to 6 series regards cutters but make sure you buy good cutters with nice polished edges, don't go near it with cheap Chinese cutters.

Personally, I like DLC coated cutters for aluminum as they last much longer than uncoated and can be pushed hard.

[Voicecoil]

Cheers Dean, when I went to look for DLC cutters it says "recommended for aircraft grade aluminium" so can't be bad; and the ones from APT are a reasonable price (and very pretty). Struggling to find a corner radius tool at a less than eye-watering price though, but might just do the corners as a separate pass with a non-DLC tool, very little material to remove.
It's interesting to see that the speeds recommended by APT are considerably lower than for a "normal" uncoated aluminium cutter of the same size, I wonder if this is because they're assuming you're machining a high strength alloy??

[Robin Hewitt]

It cuts like a charm. I have a 4 1/4" rod of the stuff if you fancy a slice :beer:

[Voicecoil]

It cuts like a charm. I have a 4 1/4" rod of the stuff if you fancy a slice :beer:

Wow that's some lump! Thanks for the offer but it's not quite the right shape for what I'm making, I need some 12mm plate about 300 x 100, thankfully not stupidly expensive from Smiths.