CNC Tooling

[scottandme]

Don,

Look at the Onsrud catalog - the 63-600 product line is probably what you want to pick up. McMaster sells them if you search for "Router Bits for Aluminum" - "Grooving and Slotting". They're 1 flute solid carbide. The biggest issues with routers are going to be chip evacuation and and getting lubrication on the tool.

The 1-flute tools are nice because they give plenty of space to evacuate chips, and you don't have to run them at a high feed rate to maintain a proper chip load on the cutter to prevent it from rubbing. Depending on the construction (ball screws? rack and pinion?), your machine will probably be happier at lower feed rates and acceleration rates.

You'll definitely need something to get evacuate chips and provide a little lubrication on the tool. Otherwise you'll be re-cutting chips and getting a built up edge on the cutting tool - leading it to load up with aluminum and come to an untimely end. We're picking up a micro-drop coolant system (Trico Md-1200), which is like a mister, but instead of a constant stream of mist, it shoots small droplets of lubricant along with an air blast. They're more expensive than mist systems, but seem to clear chips better and don't make as big of a mess. Regular misting systems tend to linger in the air, and breathing that stuff isn't the greatest. At the very least look into a Fogbuster system to minimize that, or good ventilation.