DIY Aluminium milling anyone?

[Oldmanandhistoy]

I have built a couple of small cnc routers now both from timber products using skate bearings and linear slides. I have been designing a larger machine for some time now (unfortunately I do not get a lot of spare time due to work commitments) I have also done some prototyping and testing work on my larger design.

Getting to the point I would like and need some of my parts to be milled from aluminium plate. The best I could get from my small machine would be to use a centre drill to accurately mark drill holes to finish on a drill press and maybe that is what I might end up having to do. I have also considered buying a small mill to cnc but that seems no better than building a machine for my self. I could of course have some one make the parts for me but were is the fun in that?

So my questions are:

Is it possible to build a small machine to mill aluminium from multi ply (I have a cnc to accurately cut the parts)? Using top quality linear slides bought from Ebay would not be a problem. Also I would probably build a small all aluminium machine and use the slides on that after using the ply machine to cut the parts. Better still cut the parts for a small all aluminium machine and then use that to cut parts for a larger machine.

Has anyone already done this and bought the tee-shirt; if yes would some one be kind enough to send me too that/them threads please?

Should I stop now and have the parts made for me?

More questions may follow but I will leave it there for now. Thanks in advance for any assistance given it is appreciated.

John

[Joules]

Your probably better getting the small manual mill to make the parts you can, and even convert the mill to CNC in order to make the parts you can't. You certainly won't regret having a small mill for jobs.

Joules

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Thanks joules for your reply and maybe your right but before I do I would like to investigate all other possibilities plus I enjoy a challenge.

John

[wcarrothers1]

I found having my geared head milling machine convered to CNC something I probably could not have built my 4x8 with out..

Well with out it would have been a lot harder anyway. And you said you enjoy a challenge.. It would be with out cooler tools..heh

b.

[Oldmanandhistoy]

So am I to assume that the purchase of a mill is the way to go or is it that the members who may have built a cnc for milling aluminium do not have the time to get involved with this tread or even that this topic has been covered too many times already?
Thank you for the replies given I will have to go away and give this more thought.

John

[Rodm1954]

I use my wood router CNC to do aluminum cutting. Here are some samples of motor mounts that I do on it. Motor mounts are to the back of the photo and made up of two plates with stand offs for the coupling. The rest has been done on my lathe so ignore that.
There is no reason you cannot use a well contructed wood CNC router for aluminum. Keep the cuts shallow (I use 0.4mm depth per pass and about 350mm/min with a 1/4 inch carbide bit) and use air on the cutter to clear the chips so they don't weld to the job. Sorry about the metric imperial measurements - showing my age in a metric country.
Need to clarify my machine is made from aluminum and steel and has a router for a spindle but I refer to it as a wood router because it was designed for timber and not metals. I can't see why a wooden construction CNC router with linear rails would not do the same.

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Thanks Rod for your reply and if I may say so nice work.
Would it be possible to share you machine design? I do not wish to copy but would like some ideas as a starting point. Such as do you use quality linear slides and the like?

John

[Rodm1954]

Hi John
First you may need to re-read my first post as I might have edited it after you read it. Sorry if I have lead you down the wrong track.
I have built three machines and posted builds on each on CNCZone and the links are here. I have gone from skate bearing rails to linear rails as I have learnt more. Mind you my first machine on skate bearing has done over five hundred hours of cutting and still is going well. My current project is a CNC conversion of a Seig X2 column and a larger sliding table. The reason I am building this is because I am sick of a 25,000 rpm router in my ears.
Gantry Router Log
Second Machine Started
Third Machine with 12 volt DC spindle
This might look like I know a lot about CNC machines but I am just a weekend fiddler and consider myself at best a novice. Copy all you like as I have done the same from this forum to get where I have.
I hope you find a solution.

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Yes Rod I did miss the last part about being made from aluminium and steel.
I have already been looking at your second machine the Nobot which I am reading at present, am on page 1. Very nice looking job. It is all food for thought thanks you very much.

John

[rob gib]

french firm belin do 6mm dia single flute bit buy one, cut at 2-300mm a min
and your aluminium machining problems are over