[Thermal]

Originally Posted by Mr. Lim

Team 188 has been cutting aluminum on a CNC router equipped with a wood router as a spindle for a number of years with a lot of success. Patience, conservative cut depths/feed speeds, a good cutter, and someone to stand over it with a vacuum to clear chips, and coolant are key. Don't expect to be able to hold tolerances to press-fit bearings though!

Here are the cutters that we swear by, and 188 also has adopted:
http://www.onsrud.com/xdoc/SuperO

We run them at 18,000 RPM. I think 188's wood router is a fixed speed at 24,000 RPM which is a bit fast I think, but it is possible. The single flute in the cutter makes a big difference in being able to run at these speeds.

You should create an effective dust shoe, then you don't even need a person to stand around with a vacc in hand