Cutting aluminium without oil/coolant

[Zeeflyboy]

Moisture resistant MDF would be good anyway, should be less susceptible to changes in humidity. I think mist coolant could still mess with your surface though.

Phenolic/SRBP is a fairly commonly used bed material and is basically for all intents and purposes unaffected by moisture... but a large piece or two will still end up expensive.

However you can definitely machine aluminium completely dry. An air blast is good for getting some cooling but more importantly getting the chips out of the way to avoid recutting... when machining dry I found single flute to be the easiest with these high speed spindles.

I have done plenty of dry machining, but I must admit since adding coolant I've been able to push harder and use a wider variety of tools with success. There are guys doing some very successful and high speed machining dry though, so I imagine a lot of it comes down to experience and knowledge. Definitely easier for an amateur like myself if you throw some mist coolant into the mix.