CNC Aluminum

[studysession]

Hi - I have a CNC Mill and I have been CNC'ing aluminum. I have a few questions...

Q1> Can aluminum be hardened like steel? I recently took a machining class and learned how to harden steel. But was thinking it might not work with aluminum. Wanted to be sure though.

Q2> Also - some items I see where people mill out a section of sluminum and place a piece of cut carbon fiber down into the aluminum for looks and to reduce over all weight. I want to do this with one of my projects but want to know what kind of glue or what is used to hold the carbon fiber onto the aluminum like that?

Thanks!!!

[BigDaddyG]

Studysession,
Aluminum can be anodized, which is a surface treatment only. The surface of the aluminum is all that gets hard, it works well for abrasion (rubbing) but not well for impact. The aluminum is porous and the surface with the help of and electrical charge is hardened.

Can't help with the carbon fiber, good luck.
Glen

[studysession]

I was thinking that would not be same as steel. I just wanted to be sure.

I am most curious on what kind of glue that will hold well - Keeping the carbon fiber peices that I cut onto the aluminum without it coming back off. Seems like anytime it gets cold, glue comes right off aluminum very easy.

[ger21]

Use epoxy. West System sells an aluminum prep you use to get better adhesion. http://www.westsystem.com

[NBrigode]

I have had aluminum gears that I have made hard coated. If uses the same principle as anodizing, but is actually a coating of about .001. It seems to hold up quite well. The one thing that I have noticed is that the better finish the part is before hard coating or anodizing the better it will look afterwards.

[studysession]

Thanks for the replies - Is it hard to hard coat aluminum?

[lerman]

Thanks for the replies - Is it hard to hard coat aluminum?

My understanding is that hardcoating is essentially the same as anodizing, but must be done at a lower temperature. Anodizing can be a DIY projetc. But, you would need some type of cooler to do hardcoating.

Ken