Cutting Aluminum Sheet With Cnc Router

Cutting aluminum with a cnc router.

Cutting aluminum sheet with cnc router.

This was a bit stressful. The cnc router has a work table covering an area of 300 mm x 200 mm. Without an enclosure chips literally fly everywhere. Here are some valuable lessons we ve learned from ou.

Aluminum spiral solid carbide router bits by amana feature outstanding tool longevity a tendency to stay sharper mirror like carbide finish excellent carbide brazing a broad selection of sizes and most importantly quality of cut. The router needs to be set up with lubricant spray and the vacuum pump cannot be one with graphite vanes if the lubricant sucks through the vacuum to the pump and gets on the vanes they are toast. The bits move in all three axes and can cut a hole up to 50 mm depth. We now know that alcohol not beer is a better option than wd 40.

Routers are not really made for cutting metals however the key word above is can. You can get by without anything for a. We also found that a healthy dose of wd 40 keeps the cutter from chattering and thus improves life of the tool and quality of the cut surfaces. You may think of your router as a tool only for woodworking but chris marshall explains how you can use it for metal pieces as well.

You re going to want to use some kind of lubrication for aluminum. Aluminum machining on a cnc router is not glamorous. The concept of putting screws in the safe areas seemed logical but i kept thinking that i had to have overlooked something obvio. Cutting aluminum on a cnc router can be done but there are some things you should know before you begin.

For the heavy duty cnc milling machines at work my go to was a 1 diameter solid carbide roughing endmill. You can cut aluminum with a router. The hobbyist s guide lubrication. It is important to keep in mind here that cutting refers to the separation of aluminum sheets into pieces and making pockets into aluminum plates.

Don t be in a hurry a cnc router can cut aluminum but it isn t the ideal tool for hogging out big aerospace parts. You can easily cut aluminum by matching this material with the right feed rate and end mill bit. The cnc routers equipped with aluminum parts such as the vevor cnc router 3020 is a great unit to have. 11 easy cnc router aluminum cutting tips 2020 1.

He shows the jig he use.