routing aluminium help :)

[dudz]

Hi Jazzcnc,
Reading your answers on this thread is very helpful....IE speeds and feed rates. I have the 2kw Chinese spindle now, about to use it this week hopefully. I have ordered several 6mm single flute cutters. What about drilling through ali ? would it be the same setup and the same cutter ? what drilling method is best ?

[Jonathan]

Hi Jazzcnc,
Reading your answers on this thread is very helpful....IE speeds and feed rates. I have the 2kw Chinese spindle now, about to use it this week hopefully. I have ordered several 6mm single flute cutters. What about drilling through ali ? would it be the same setup and the same cutter ? what drilling method is best ?

Depends on the size of the holes. Up to about 4mm you can get away with good quality HSS drills, but any more than that is difficult because of the limited power these spindles output at low rpm's. Instead you have to use carbide drills, or mill the holes if they're big enough. Using a carbide drill worked extremely well for my bed hole array. I'm not sure if the flood coolant was required, probably could have got away with applying coolant manually if it wasn't so many holes:

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/router...html#post38578