Machining Aluminum with the 278-Z on the Shapeoko - #MaterialMonday

Single flute endmills aren't just for plastic. They're also awesome for aluminum on desktop CNC's. (Don't use your plastic cutters in aluminum though, different geometry.) Here are some speeds and feeds for machining aluminum with our 278-Z on the Shapeoko.

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[PiefacePete]

Yay! Thank you! Finally a clear, concise, and fully explained demonstration of the advantages of single flute cutters in aluminium. If only someone would give me five bucks for every time I've seen a broken 1/8 inch four-flute cutter with a blob of aluminium melted onto the end, it would buy me a decent single flute cutter. The only thing I would add is different grades of aluminium machine in very different ways. (I know you have covered this in previous videos.)

[brianh]

thanks for the explanation! I thought I had a grasp on this but now, I'm confident I have a grasp. Thanks a million!

[EdwardVarner]

I find something beautiful in watching the part get carved out of a raw block of material. I have never used a CNC in my life, but one day ...

[kevinyang]

Extremely clear demonstration and explanation! Great work

[JeffsCustomRC]

Excellent video Winston, keep them coming 👊🏼👊🏼

[imqqmi]

I agree on all points. On my current DIY built cnc which has 20mm thick aluminium tooling plate as bed and I use a machine vise on it (it has 200mm z height so plenty of room) it really makes a big difference compared to the multiplex/MDF bed I had previously. A lot less chatter, the cuts are very shiny, almost mirror finish even with a single flute 4mm cutter at 17k rpm. The mass and stiffness of the vise and bed really makes a difference. I also invested in AA or AAA graded ER-11 collets, with run out between 5-10um (supplied had 20-40um run out), that made a difference too, especially in reducing friction and heat build up.

[zzmewnzz]

I would very much appreciate if you would show your Fusion 360 tool, passes, and linking tabs in future videos. It is so hard to guess all these things, and one glimpse at yours would solve 100 problems for me. For example what is the speed and feed for the 274Z? Also if Carbide 3D could supply a chart with a list of all the end mills they sell, including single flute 1/4, 1/8, 16th etc sizes and respective feeds and speeds for aluminum would completely remove any confusion. Possibly a different value column for nothing, air blast, and air blast and mist. I would pay for this chart! It could not take more then a few hours for a pro to make, everyone lists 3 variables and fusion requires 25 different ones! Very difficult to figure out for a beginner without examples to look at. Thank you very much for the very helpful videos Winston!

[dividingbyzerofpv]

This should flat out be CNC router gospel. This is hugely inportant to making success with ALUMINUM

[JANDLWOODWORKING]

I love your tips and tricks Awesome info!!!

[ManCrafting]

Great info Winston. Very clearly explained.

[brittond]

carbide3d will likely sell out of those 278-Z cutters now. great vid winston

[gusbisbal]

Good vid, I however, you don't need to "Clog" the cutter for aluminium to weld onto it. All you need to do is weld some on the cutting edge and its compromised. Also coolant isn't about being able to handle the part after its finished. Its about creating hardness in the material so that it cuts better and shears cleaner. Coolant is still worth using.
btw. thank you for the metric translation.
Oh also I would have cut this part by Cutting it with a saw to a more reasonable approximation to part and then used the side of the cutter to mill it, but your machine may not be rigid enough for that.

[jasonripley]

I was hoping that you could possibly put a material video together using these single flute endmills on acrylic please? Thank you for putting together these instructional videos, I've learned a lot!!!

[hotfuzz]

Awesome video Sir invaluable info for hobby machinists

[Doug]

I was excited about these endmills and dropped just shy of $80.00 for a single 1/4" and 1/8" bit shipped only to find that I could have gotten several 6mm Chinese single flute cutters for the same money. So for those on a budget shop around! The uncoated mills cut just as nice provided you have proper chip evacuation. I even saw a MPCNC cutting ALUMINUM at 15mm DOC using adaptive clearing with no coolant just air blast and that is not as rigid as a SO3.

[brianropel]

I’ve been getting a lot of plastic jobs in at work where typically I normally did steel. Do we’ve been using 4 flute endmills on the plastic running them at steel speeds. I just ordered our first 3/8 single flute. Super excited

[TheMoody]

Good information.
I currently use a 3 flute carbide end 1/4 end mill at .25in DOC and .017in step over at 47ipm for 2d adaptive and contour on my fox alien wm 3020 cnc.

[mattybuilds]

Would you be able to give some guidelines for the 1/8 inch and 2mm single flutes? Im new and want to start with them asap.

[tomahawkcnc]

Any chance of a explanation of drilling aluminium feeds and speeds and deep drilling like 20mm with small Dia like 1/8

[lantonyj]

Hello Winston, is there a reason why you didn't add plunge rates to the information you provided? I haven't made the leap from carbide create....