Tips for cutting 1050 aluminium

[Robin Hewitt]

I typed aluminium 1050 in to Google and got...
Cold forming Good
Machineability Poor
This is not good stuff for a beginner, suggest you chalk it up to experience.
I avoid the softer aluminium alloys like I avoid cheap Allen keys, waste of money

[Davek0974]

That is a good point Robin, 1050 is 99% pure aluminium, nasty soft stuff but good for deep drawing etc. I tried plasma cutting once - not good ;(

I would go 5251, 5083 or the 6000 range.

[d4cnc]

Thanks for the continued advice everyone. I really appreciate it. What a great community it is here.

I did try and source some better aluminium for cutting, but I wasn't able to find any.. everyone I asked said that they only stocked 1050a at the thickness I wanted. Any tips on where to find some 6061 T6 would be greatly appreciated!


I tried metal supermarkets, themetalstore.. and some others who I forget now..


The one thing is for the 1.5mm stuff, I need to be able to bend it so I believe the 5000 series wouldn't be suitable.. however the 6000 series should be I believe..


It was when I stumbled on a thread here of someone cutting 1050 well, that I thought I'd give it a go using his settings. However, I agree that perhaps it isn't best for a first timer like myself.


The new AluPower cutters arrived, however I'm a little confused on which settings to try next.. I have five 3mm single flute carbides and five 6mm single flute carbides. At £8 each, I'm a little hesistant.
As was previously said a couple of times, every machine is different so I guess there's no 1 magic answer, and some experimentation is in order. However, if you were me, what would be your first setting that you would try next..


I'm considering the following:
Convential milling.. 3mm cutter.. 1.4DOC (0.1mm onion skin?) 12k RPM 400mm/min.. lots of cutting lubricant.. carpet tape.. lots of screws..

[Davek0974]

1.4mm DOC, slotting, 3mm tool, 23,000rpm, 370mm/min
1.4mm DOC, slotting, 6mm tool, 12,000rpm, 550mm/min

Having just been through this, I would pile in with these figures i think and keep my fingers crossed :)

Definitely use lube, WD40 etc, all the way, keep the chips clear.

[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.