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Re: Which kind of Aluminum is a good choice
Quote:
Originally Posted by JesseK
The fundamental pieces of the most successful subsystem on our 2015 robot was manually-milled from 6063 2x1x0.125 tubing. The problem is that it took an expert mentor & student combo an entire Saturday for just the two ~68" rails. The bit likes to heat up, which means we slow down and add extra cutting fluid via squeeze bottle & paint brush (we use Tap Magic, cinnamon flavor).
6063 isn't all doom-and-gloom. We've been able to make any precision piece we want with 6063. It's just slow. And 1/2 the price in some cases. Since it can gum up a bit when going too fast, I have reservations about CNC'ing 6063 - but it's probably doable. It also welds just fine - our frames have been 6063 since 2013 and have come back 99% fine each year.
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Tap Magic is more for aiding chip removal and keeping a tap moving. It's not quite as good at cooling per say.
If you want to cool something you would use a water soluble coolant in a spray bottle. The photo (taken 2 min ago 10 ft from me) shows some in a machine. When we cut in a hass we literally "flood" coolant which aids cutter life, chip removal, dimensional stability etc. On the Bridgeport we generally fill a spray bottle and spray constantly while cutting. Helps a lot with aluminum.
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