Machine pro and con questions.

[MoparPogue]

I'm gearing up to build a machine to do some cuts. My current goal is to cut 6061T6 Aluminum.

I have questions that I can't definitively find answers to via search.

What is the difference between a router and a mill?

Can a router be built to produce the same cuts (and accuracy) as a mill?

Work pieces wouldn't be larger that 12"x8" but will require profile cuts.

This will be the first of my machines and I will be working towards larger machines.

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

If you build a router strong enough, rigid enough and accurate enough to do real metal cutting, it will become a high speed milling machine. Just my opinion.

[ger21]

Originally Posted by MoparPogue What is the difference between a router and a mill?

Like Richard said, sometimes very little. Machines that are called routers are generally gantry machines, and generally designed to cut wood and plastics. Although some are intended to cut aluminum at high speeds. I think of a router being a much faster machine then a mill as well.

Machines called mills are generally designed to cut steel and similar materials. They tend to be much smaller than routers, and much heavier and rigid as well.

Both machines function very similarly and both can do some tasks equally well.

Originally Posted by MoparPogue Can a router be built to produce the same cuts (and accuracy) as a mill?

To a point, but at some point the router would need to become a mill.

You didn't say how thick the material you'll be cutting is. I'd say you'll probably be better off purchasing a mill, if you can afford one large enough to handle your workpieces.

If you look around this site, you'll find many, many people building routers for cutting wood. Most of these are lightweight machines not really capable of cutting aluminum on a regular basis. But you'll find very few building mills for metal cutting. that's because you can build a router from wood or aluminum with common woodworking tools, but to build a mill requires far more specialized tools, usually another mill.
If you haven't already seen it, here's a good example of a homebuilt mill.
http://www.5bears.com/cnc.htm

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

Like Gerry said, at some point the router will become a mill. For example, say you were milling a 9" X 4" X !/4" aluminum nameplate 1/16" deep contoured engraving. Router? vs. (9" X 4" X 3") contoured pattern of a soap dish. Mill? Both could be produced with the same ball end mill. The soap dish machining requires more rigidity & probably more accuracy whereas the engraving probably requires more spindle speed and cutter feed rate.

[J Hill]

A router is a milling machine with a long table travel. They are usually traveling gantry type machines and on the big routers there may be one or more gantries operating at the same time. If you want to see big routers go to Boeing or some other companies that produce aircraft wing spars.