Need advice for deep pocket alum

[Tkamsker]

I would use aß big as possible miller for roughing high speed low Cutting depth. And use extrem angeled miller. I had to do verry deep pockets 50 mm so After 300€ spent in broken miller s i stay away from Windows cool extreme and found an Single Flute Center Cutting miller which does the Job. Perfect .. But if cooling Stopps it cost 28€ ...

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[Steve Seebold]

I would lay out a hole pattern leaving about .015 stock on the sides, ends and bottom of your pocket. Use a drill to make the first hole, then switch to an end mill. Make the step over with your end mill 30 to 40 percent of the diameter of the end mill.

I do this on a lot of parts with great success, and it's a whole lot faster than trying to machine it out .100 at a time. Just be sure you use flood coolant. Fog Buster is a great sprayer (I have one), but it doesn't work for this application.

And turn the air blast pressure down to 30 to 40 PSI at your machine or you'll be blowing shyt all over the shop. I have mine set at 35 PSI and it works amazingly well. I can blow my parts off and not blow chips all over the shop.

[txdrillmillturn]

Rough it out leaving .010 stock per side on side walls with a 3 flute hss rougher designed for aluminum. Take your 3 flute carbide tool and run around 1200 rpm 5ipm for finishing.

[JohnToner]

I do pockets in 6061 that are 3.5" long, 0.632" wide and 1.250" deep with no problems. I drill a few 0.375 holes along the center line. This may not be necessary, but drills are cheap and remove a lot of metal. I code the tool path for a 7/16" EM with the DOC decreasing by 0.100" for each cycle from one end to the other and back (probably should do a more aggressive DOC). I first run the 7/16" tool path with a 3/8" EM then repeat with the 7/16" EM and increasing the DOC to 0.200" for each cycle. Also, as Russ and others have noted, I flood the pocket with coolant. I'm using Mobil coolant from Enco (mineral oil, not water soluble) which is delivered by a sump pump through 1" tubing to a distribution block from which 3/8 Lock-Lines dump copious amounts of coolant into the pocket. The chips float out faster than the last chopper out of Saigon and the finish is bright and smooth.

[jpchapboy]

I would crank that RPM up as high as it goes, use a 1/2" EM to rough it at .2-.38 DOC leaving .015-.02 on the walls. Then finish the walls with your 3/8 EM at full depth, 3500 rpm and about 12 ipm feed. but that is based on the heavy machines I am used to. The tormach being a lighter machine might not be able to cut aggressively.
you never want to take the time to use a small tool to clear the bulk of the material unless you absolutely have to. use a big tool first and then finish the walls. CAM is nice here because you can clean the corners in properly sized steps (rest milling). you can program these manually but it is a pain.