Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => FAQs => Topic started by: gaz. on January 13, 2010, 02:59:11 PM
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Hello all, i'm fairly new to cnc machining, i have only cut mdf and foamex board so far. I need some advise on cutting aluminium composite. Its only 2mm thick, with acrylic inside and aluminium plate on either side. what is the best blade to use for this. at the moment i am using a 2.something mm carbide blade, which is meant to be able to engrave brass and ali. Would this do the job on a low speed cut?? with 2 passes or so??
Also how about 5mm acrylic, i know this blade will cut it but will it burn it, as at the moment i can't seem to slow the router down :o as it is a built in jobby and i cant seem to control it so its all or nothing as far as the motor is concerned.
Thanks in advance.
Gaz.
P.S anybody know where to buy the ali and acrylic from? Amari is the cheapest place so far!
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No response yet, so i will try and help , but have never cut that combination of material.
So take this for FWIW....
First, i would suggest doing a manufactures search and see if they have some advice on how machining should be done for the best results for that material. The cutter rpm is fixed so the only thing you can do is vary cut depth and feedrate. The acrylic melts or degrades / burns due to heat and you can end up breaking that small cutter ( assume its a end mill and not a saw ). So a coolant or colder air is required to take that heat away. You can split the machining steps such that the feedrate is adjusted for each material . Nothing beats a little testing if you can and would use a larger tool for the testing to avoid breakage.
RICH
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Yeh okay then, i might get some bigger milling bits, the ali part its-self is only about 0.5mm thick, and when i first had the machine and accidently milled into the bed it seemed to cut that fine :-\
I'll give it a try, see what happens. Thanks for your help anyway.