Tips for cutting 1050 aluminium

[d4cnc]

I think I love you guys.


Wow what a difference. The cut was perfect!


I messed up and set the cutter a little too low and so there was no onion skin so the part jumped out and nicked a little in the middle of the long edge. And I need to come up with a solution for not destroying the MDF board with lubrication.. but apart from that.. there was no welding sides.. just lovely chips.


I did 23k RPM & 370mm/min with full 1.4mm DOC.


PS. I just left the old metal on there as a practice with some more screws rather than taping up a new sheet, as I wanted a little practice before ruining another sheet of metal!

[Davek0974]

Nice, thats useful to me too as it means i'm getting a grip on speeds & feeds :)

As you have holes in the part, why not add a g-code pause then bung in a couple of screws to keep the part down??

The mess is a tricky one, my machine is all aluminium so it just wipes off, you could try putting a sheet of paper down first then fixing the plate on that, might keep a fair bit off the MDF bed?

[d4cnc]

Yes, the new aluminium sheet I'm going to cut, I'm planning on lining up some of the holes perfectly with the T-slots to screw into.. I was trying to avoid just screwing straight into the spoilboard with wood screws as I thought it would quickly get spoiled.. but I've since cut a 200mm pocket 1.5mm deep into it (set the bed for Z0 rather than the Z-1.5mm I wanted) and now dowsed it with lubricant.. so I think that plan is out the window.

I did find this interesting though.. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...4-mdf-oil.html
So maybe I'll swap out the Draper lubricant I have for a can of WD40.. and just hope for the best.

[lucan07]

I need to come up with a solution for not destroying the MDF board with lubrication..

I always seal MDF with a couple of coats of Rustins MDF sealer a little oil or WD40 not a problem and great preparation if you want to paint or varnish.

[d4cnc]

I have a lot of Rustins MDF sealer here actually.. I was just a little worried about applying it and the MDF swelling.. then needing to resurface it and undoing the work of the sealer by taking off the top layer.. I guess if I apply a few coats, it'll seep in a lot and then when I resurface it, I'll still have a good layer of protection. It's probably worth it for the T-slots alone anyway.

[lucan07]

I find little swelling if any when dry if any maybe the edges which I always soak well, even then when dry I cannot see your bed needing more than a tickle to re true, it should certainly be less than wd40 or water.

[Clive S]

but I've since cut a 200mm pocket 1.5mm deep into it (set the bed for Z0 rather than the Z-1.5mm I wanted)

You could make the pocket a little deeper and wider and then make a plug to go in it and glue it in position and re skim the bed.

[d4cnc]

If I wanted to use a 2mm cutter or even a 1mm cutter (obviously after a lot more practice as I'm sure I'd break them just by looking at them at this stage), how would that affect things? Presumably, the smaller the bit, the slower the feed.. and higher the spindle speed? It would be nice to get some tighter inside radiuses. (radii?)

You could make the pocket a little deeper and wider and then make a plug to go in it and glue it in position and re skim the bed.

Awesome idea! Thanks for the tip!

[Davek0974]

Possibly try
2mm, 1.5mm DOC, slotting, single flute, 24,000rpm, 120mm/min
1mm, 0.5mm DOC, slotting, single flute, 24,000rpm, 54mm/min

I have not gone that low yet though;)