routing aluminium help :)

[JAZZCNC]

From my experience with cutting aluminium I believe coolant and amount of coolant is very important. It is not only cooling factor, but chips removal and lubrication as well.

Yep you can't beat GOOD flood coolant but it's not practicle for most router based machines and here lies the problem.?
Unless you have high flood cooling so the chips are getting washed away constantly then using a coolant how most do it by just brushing or spraying a bit of WM40 etc soley is more trouble than it's worth.? . . . It clogs the slot and makes the chips stick to the material rather than wash away, this results in chip recutting and actually creats more heat than cools. It also leaves a very poor finish and kills cutters prematurely.
Blown air with a slight mist is by far the best method for cutting ALi on a NONE Full flood coolant machine, mill or router based. (It's messy thou)
I use a dedicated air mister now but for years just used to blow the chips away with the odd occasional squirt of maintenance spray and just doing this gives far better tool life and finish than brushing coolant on.
To get good results and tool life in any material you need the heat away with the chips but in Ali it's even more important due to the sticky nature of the stuff and this can be achieved dry with good chipload and IME dry cutting with the correct chipload is far better than brushing the odd bit of coolant on.

I use plain diesel, strait from petrol station as a coolant. It's cheap, available, does not cause corrosion and it is not likely to get bad. In fact it protects my machine against rust.

Try kerosene(heater fuel) it's far cheaper and works just has good.

I have to take my hat off to you lot, I'm amazed you can cut it at all with a router, I have trouble milling the stuff.

Not the same trouble mind you, My problem is holding it down because the tool tries to lift it and it doesn't resist much.

Robin If I had a pound for every body I've spoke to about building machines and when asked what they are doing about material clamping it never even entered there minds.!! . . . .Clamping must be the least thought about aspects of DIYCNC and yet one thats very challenging to get right and very frustrating at times resulting in many a few hours lost due to material lift or moving.!!

I think it is practically pure aluminium, not enough magnesium, you could probably stretch it into a Coke can but that means the tool can push it out the way rather than cut it. Any interruption of the suds and the tool clags up, stops cutting and starts extruding.

Yep thats exactly what happens with the 1050 stuff it just deforms and gets pushed or torn out the way eventually wrapping it's self around the cutter like chewing gum.!!. . . .I hate the bloody stuff, I'd rather cut it with pair scissors. .Lol