Need Help!- What's the best CNC Cutting machine for Aluminum?

[rc123456]

Frenzal - thanks for your response. I will definitely give it a shot. I'll start with a single flute and setup a coolant system.

[Dustin407]

Attached aresome pics of various thicknesses of aluminum....as cut with plasma. Very fast speeds....virtually no dross. A slight oxidation effect on edges, and a slight taper.....but the speed cannot be beat if you need parts fast! From left to right..3/4", 1/2", 1/4", 1/8" and 1/16". Jim

Jim, Thanks for the photos, those alum. parts turned out pretty good. Also I think different kinds of alum. cut better or worse than others. I know that the 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 series is alot softer than 6061 or higher. This is why router bits have problems cutting soft alum. b/c it gets stuck in the flutes and your bit then turns into a rotating shaft. Thats why a single flute, low rpm, oil mist is the best, the alum. mush wont clog the cutting edge on the bit. When a router bit is cutting harder alum. it doesn,t usually stick to the bit (has nice chips) but takes alot longer to cut.... I love the edge quality of a router but you cant beat the speed of a plasma...time is money...

[diycnc]

we cut alum at 1500mm/m with single flute 1/2" end mill, 14000 rpm, oil mister, 5-10mm doc this is on a multicam router

[MMonster]

Hi Jim.
Thanks for your information/ The cut looks great and it's good to see the thickness ranges. What specific Aluminium is this?
Cheers

[Iamshreader]

Hey Bud by a kovakon great machine for around10.000 $ give them a look

[hotchips]

Laser gives a great edge finish and virtually no taper. On thicker materials you can end up with a small, soft burr on the bottom edge, but up to 5mm this is not really a problem. accuracy is within 0.2mm. Our 5.2kw machine will cut up to 12mm thick ally.

[pareicher]

Waterjet would be by far the most desirable in production. No fixturing essentially if your just cutting flat stock. Your biggest concern would be pressure. The higher the pressure, the faster the feedrate and straighter the cut without striations.
Laser, plasma and milling, ALL change the material and leave a bur! Waterjet does neither. You can easily hold +/-.001"

[jimcolt]

Waterjet is not the only process desireable for production. Laser and plasma have their advantages as well.

Waterjet is great for an edge that is not affected thermally.....yet water jet capital equipment cost and operating costs are extremely high...and productivity (cut speed) is low. Tolerances with waterjet are closer to .004 to .006.....you would be hard pressed to produce 1000 parts that were all within .001" of each other!

Plasma is the fastest and least expensive with tolerances in the .015" to .030" range

Laser is reasonably fast, yet often has difficulty with the surface reflectivity on aluminum...parts are two to 3 times the cutting cost of plasma, and tolerances can be in the .005 to .010" range

Water jet will produce the best metalurgical edge, at the slowest speed and the highest cost....tolerances in the .004" to .010" range.

I have been in a few shops that have all three processes (plus oxy-fuel).....the processes all have their niche....and they should be used to produce the tolerances, productivity and cut part costs that are necessary for the application. There is no perfect solution!

Jim Colt

[Signmaker]

Everyone has their own preferences.

I looked at plasma then decided water jet had more versatility and delivered superior cut edges and parts; that's why I bought one.

Plasma might be a fantastic machine but water jets simply aren't as unproductive or expensive to run as some people make them out to be.

I can easily and quickly cut aluminium parts with better edge quality than the plasma parts in the photograph with the added benefit of no dross, heat spots or hardening.

If you want to cut aluminium in thin gauges quickly a water jet can do what you want competitively.... plus you get the built in capability to cut a mountain of other materials laser and plasma can't even touch.

[jimcolt]

Signmaker,

Sounds like your needs fit well with the abrasive water jet technology! As I was saying...each of the processes have their niche....for many...Plasma is the best choice when productivity and low operating cost are the primary need.

Water jet certainly has the versatility to cut a wide variety of materials with excellent quality.

It is always interesting to get metal parts quoted in quantity from two or three different processes.....you will see a pretty wide variation in tolerance capability as well as price. In simple terms.....if all parts quoted meet the tolerance requirements....then go with the process that provides the best price!

Jim