Interrupted turning in aluminum

[QuinnSjoblom]

I'm looking at possible ways of processing an aluminum part in the mill turn and there's one possibility that would work out very conveniently, but would involve interrupted turning. Basically a 1 inch square shape that is turned to 1.25 diameter to remove corners of the square shape. A bit more complicated than that, but that's basically what needs to happen. I know that carbide inserts don't like interrupted cutting, but not sure how it handles aluminum specifically. Will the usual ground and polished aluminum specific insert be able to handle this? Or will it most likely chip? I can do it the other way around, turning then milling, but there's some big advantages of doing it this way if possible.

Similar Threads:

• Need Help!- Whta Grind for Interrupted Turning
• Shallow Interrupted Cut in Aluminum creating burrs
• Need Help!- Turning Titanium, interrupted cut
• turning inconel 718 interrupted cut
• aluminum turning RFQ

[mactec54]

I'm looking at possible ways of processing an aluminum part in the mill turn and there's one possibility that would work out very conveniently, but would involve interrupted turning. Basically a 1 inch square shape that is turned to 1.25 diameter to remove corners of the square shape. A bit more complicated than that, but that's basically what needs to happen. I know that carbide inserts don't like interrupted cutting, but not sure how it handles aluminum specifically. Will the usual ground and polished aluminum specific insert be able to handle this? Or will it most likely chip? I can do it the other way around, turning then milling, but there's some big advantages of doing it this way if possible.

If you are using good tooling / the carbide inserts won't be bothered by the interrupted cutting, in aluminum .100 depth of cut would not be a problem if you have enough power for that depth of cut

[Jim Dawson]

You won't have a problem. The inserts will live just fine. I make the 304 SS part below that gets a slot milled in it, then turned. The inserts are good for about 60 parts before I change them, that's when I gain about 0.001 on the OD from tool wear. In aluminum the inserts will last forever.

Order of operation on this part is Face, Drill, Slot, Chamfer, Turn, Part off

[QuinnSjoblom]

Sounds good, I'll give a shot. It works out well for setup order reasons, but an added bonus is the automatic chip breaking which is a nice bonus in aluminum