All I cut is Alu,mainly T6,I use a combination of a 3mm 2flute 45 Helix cutter at 16000-17000 Rpm with a .17mm DoP with a feed of 400mm/min,Alu I find favours a thin and fast approach rather than the Ron Jeremy Deep and Slow,I finish with about 200-250 mm/min,similar to Marks approach.

I did try 12(@10krpm), 16, and 24 IPM. For me 12 IPM was the worst. It was VERY noisy/chattery. 16 sounded pretty good and 24 was a bit loud but not too bad. They all had comparable surface finishes.

Aluminum speeds and feedschart

Side Milling Insert This type of insert has teeth on both face/end and periphery which is why it is used to make narrow slots or cut slots and is used for strand milling and face milling operations.

for 1/16, 1/8, and 1/4 end mills it recommends 9000RPM for them all and feed rates of 13, 36, and 18 IPS respectively. the 36 IPM seems a bit fast relative to what I read people here using. Does anyone cut that fast?

Aluminum speeds and feedsfor milling

Staggered Milling Insert These milling inserts are staggered around the periphery having the option of left or right-hand helix angles.

I rough 6061T6 on the Nomad @ 20 IPM, 10K RPM using 2 flute, ZrN/TiB2 coated end mills. The Nomad cannot use 0.25" end mills effectively for metals. I don’t even suggest trying.

Aluminum speeds and feedstable

There’s not a lot of threads about feedrates and cutter speeds yet, but it sounds like the 8-16ips @5000-10000rpm 0.01DOC in aluminum seems to be at least working for people.

End Millspeeds and feedscalculator

The Hollow Milling Cutter has thick walls and is similar to a pipe. It is used in screw machines and has bites inside the hollow surface.

Roughing End Milling Inserts, also known as "Pippa" cutters, are used to remove a significant amount of material from a workpiece. They operate in hazardous environments. The wavy teeth on these inserts provide a rough finished surface.

Speeds and feedscalculator

After my test cuts and plugging in the values to a SFM and chipload calculator my next test was going to be 10krpm 20IPM so it sounds like that’s a good combination.

The most common variants all machine similarly. Let’s ignore this for now. In general, one needs to know the specifics of the metal they are machining. My 6061 is 6061-T6511 (the 511 is getting super specific; not pertinent to this issue). Better to know than to not know… knowing allows for optimizations.

Adding in deflection to the equations ensures that secondary and tertiary effects do not create problems… and tool life is improved.

Aluminum speeds and feedschart pdf

Gang Milling Insert The gang milling insert is where periphery milling cutters with varying sizes are used to remove and cut material from the workpiece.

Feeds and speeds has a solid basis in physics and mathematics. The feed rate and RPM must be coupled properly for the available spindle torque to obtain a clean and optimal result. Too slow a feed and the end mill may not be cutting anything… until a step occurs… and you get a racket.

Face Milling Insert They have a cutter body with a large diameter where many insertion tools are fastened. Material is removed from them by axially narrow and radially deep cuts. The diameter of the face milling insert depends upon the body of the cutter and workpiece length. It is mostly used for down milling.

Periphery Milling Insert The teeth present in this type of insert are at the circumference of the circular disc which is why they are known as periphery milling inserts. They only work in milling machines with a horizontal axis.

Sorry I’m using the 1/8" two flute endmill that came with my Nomad 883 pro. They’re uncoated. I’m cutting 6061 (not sure if it’s -T6). I’m very willing to buy different cutters if it’ll get better results. especially faster roughing. I’m also willing to change alloy.

Aluminum speeds and feedscalculator

ZrN or TiB2 will allow modest improvements in speeds and will increase the life of the end mill. Well worth the extra expense. C3D stuff is pretty good… but one can do a fair amount better. More below.

Aluminum speeds and feedspdf

It also depends on what you are asking it to do,I do a lot of thin panel work so my technique is focused towards that,I have to work around panel lift as the center of the stock is normally unfixed and can be lifted by cutter action.

No need. 6061 is awesome. In the future, for general work, T6 is an excellent choice. T6 is very common so I wouldn’t be surprised that you have it. I would stay away from T1 until you’ve got some experience - and need it.

I’ve been cutting 6061-T6 on my Nomad 883 Pro with Lakeshore Carbide 1/8’’ two flute ZrN endmill with a feedrate of 12ipm @8000rpm and a 0.01in DOC. It is sometimes very loud (especially in some directions weirdly). So it seems like I am going too slow according to your recommendation.

Will it be a good idea to have a thread for feedrates? I think it will help a lot for people who are new to CNC. I have made mistakes and broke cutters (1/32’') when I went too fast and it seems I am going too slow now.

Also worth pointing out that cutter diameter is crucial to material removal and ejection which is directly linked to the cut speeds you can attain,the larger the better.

Concave Milling Insert It is a kind of formed insert and is designed with a specific shape for a particular workpiece. Its main use is to match a circular contour having a convex surface.

After my test cuts and plugging in the values to a SFM and chipload calculator my next test was going to be 10krpm 20IPM so it sounds like that’s a good combination. What depth of cut do you use? Do you recommend any specific end mills?

End milling inserts have teeth on both sides and are useful for drilling. For flat bottom cutters, the term "end mil" is commonly used.

EDIT: Oh, also do you have any recommend settings for a finishing pass? Specifically for getting the best top surface quality?

Me, I never use C3D numbers. I do them myself, starting with G-Wizard recommendations. I factor in deflection so my rates tend to be lower than some but I get a great finish.