Surfacing 6061 T651 aluminum

[hmc710]

I am surfacing an 8" square 3/4" aluminum plate with a 1" end mill. Half the plate is milled down .200" and the other have is just surfaced .010" I just got a 2" indexable 90 deg square shoulder face mill to try that. Where would I start with feed, speed, and depth of cut? Do end mill calcs apply? Running on a bridgeport series 2 interact 2. Is the face mill too much for the machine?
Thanks.

[Jason3]

Hi there,

The 2" face mill should be just fine with your machine.

The inserts for my 2" face mill are specifically for aluminum, and have spec for feed and speed on the pack, so I went for the middle of the range and it works lovely.

On my manual 10 x 50 turret mill that means 4200 rpm (.1" DOC), as fast as the power feed will go for roughing then a slower finish pass at .01" - 02" DOC. Stepover was about 90%. Leaves a very nice finish, kind of like a rainbow reflection at the right angle

Best regards,

Jason

[hmc710]

Thanks Jason, you running that with coolant or without?

[Jason3]

I use a bit of CRC, which as far as I can tell is the local equivalent of WD40 - just a squirt before each pass helps the finish, and stops the chips sticking to the cutter.

Flood would probably be better, but I have yet to set up a decent shield to contain the mess