I have a X2 and am milling 6061 aluminum with a 1/4" 2 flute end mill. Does anyone have a suggested plunge speed for this? Currently using 1.4 ipm and it seems a little aggressive sometimes? Still learning the what and when on pushing the end mills and any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!

Mark [mkenney]

Normally, you'd use a plunge rate that is roughly half the feed rate. For the X2, top speed is 2500 RPM, so feed should be around 5 IPM, and plunge rate around 2.5 IPM. If you have a belt drive giving higher RPM, scale these up proportionately.

I normally run 6200 RPM, 12 IPM feed, 6 IPM plunge for slotting with 1/4" tools in aluminum.

Regards,
Ray L.

A lot of it depends on how ridgid your machine is. If you have control over the spindle, reduce your speed for plunging by 20%. Other than that, it's what the machine can handle. An X2 won't plunge or even cut as the same speeds as a Mori, or even Haas, just have to figure out where everything is happy :)