You Need to Start Machining Metal

Many of us purchase a CNC solely for creating woodworking projects and products. But today's bench-top CNC machines are robust, ultra-capable platforms capable of machining various materials. This includes several types of metal. However, this provokes many questions and fear. How do I get started? What equipment do I need? Is my workholding strong enough? What speeds and feeds? And, on and on.
Here, we help you overcome your fear and confidently cut metal. Watch this, then machine something out of aluminum, brass or copper.
Also, Winston stops by.

Chapters:
Why Machine Metal - 0:36
What Do I Buy - 1:22
What Endmills - 1:48
What About Coatings - 2:18
The Myths Debunked - 2:54
What Z-Axis Do I Need - 3:25
What Software Do I Need - 3:40
Do I Need Lubricant - 4:11
How to Begin - 4:43
What About Workholding - 6:49
The Engineering Expert, Winston - 7:19

Links:

[kfwoeltje]

I really love the practical "just get started" approach, and not worry too much about the technical details. That's actually something I struggle with, so for me it's good to hear that message.

[iimuch]

We use a sweepie with a shop vac and cheap 5 gallon bucket dust collector. No problems pulling aluminum chips out of fairly deep pockets so long as the sweepie is engaging the work.
Also, the Create feeds and speeds are super conservative, but that’s great for getting started. Always good to see Winston in a video, he’s a wealth of good ideas.

[joshuabray]

I've cut a lot of metal on my Shapeoko 3 and Pro. I've done a lot of aluminum, copper, and brass. ANY issues I had, were not because of the shapeoko (it's more than capable), it was my endmills and my clamps... The MC Etcher is excellent for engraving.... I've made a lot of coins (carving and engraving), brands, and lots of decorative stuff. I think the thickest I've cut was 1/4 in.... My recommendation starting out is, starts SLOW, and go really shallow. Eventually, try going deeper and quicker.... You can also do some pretty neat things with aluminum or brass and epoxy resin inlay... These pieces you cut, can be polished to a mirror finish (depending on the material)....

An idea for a future video (if it hasn't already been done) would be making rubber stamps. It's basically the same idea as making a brand, but on MUCH softer material. I've made some for block prints, stamps with my daughters names, and some Chinese characters. You can do some pretty fine detail, just using standard rubber stamp (or block print) material. You do that, carve a nice wooden handle/block, glue them together, and done!

[PatrickHoodDaniel]

Great information! I would emphasize the work holding that Kevin mentioned is super important to reduce any chatter. Also, make sure you have a collet that has very little runout. This may not be as important for milling wood, but very important when milling metals. Thanks for sharing and encouraging!

[JRo]

Ok, I'm confused. You have a store that sells this stuff but I didn't see any lies to get me to buy it. Where's the click-bait? Are you going to sit there and tell me you just made an honest, entertaining, funny, and instructional video that didn't hard push your products?? Explain yourself!

J/K, it is refreshing to see this from a manufacturer and seller, thank you. And you're right, I own a Bridgeport mill, and two metal lathes but have cut nearly all my 2D and 3D CAD/CAM metal projects on a homemade CNC router. Proper setup, work-holding, and pacing yourself is the trick. Good video!

[J]

I love these videos from Carbide 3d! This is the reason why I’m getting a Nomad 3 and not a tormach or bantam.

[nathanrice]

Hey thank you very much for putting this video together for the community. I am very appreciative of your concisely informative but not too boring style. We just put our Shapeoko 5 Pro together a couple weeks ago and after I broke 3 bits trying to cut a hardwood because I didn't turn on the router, I finally turned it on :*) I hope you get a laugh out of that. I look forward to being able to cut metal coins for board games, and I'm super excited about the world of possibility within this machine. Thank you all for the good work and innovation that you're putting forth. God bless you Carbide team!

[TheBinklemNetwork]

I am but an embryo compared to them. Struggling to cut 1mm thick aluminum as a starting project.
This video was as interesting as it was educational for me

[ikke]

Although I enjoy hearing "keep it simple keep it somple" It woould have been nice to hear some indicative numbers, Feed, rpm, depth per cut etc.

[ScrewThisGlueThat]

I really like your channel. Your videos are always full of great information taught with humor. Such a great teacher, you hold my attention from start to finish.

[lorigallion]

Lol at the rabbit hole. I’ve been down it a few times and that was just for wood. My first aluminum project I followed my golf mantra…hit it hard and see where it goes.

[TheCNCDen]

I've always said, and made several videos showing how easy it can be, those who want to do this as a side hustle or otherwise to earn are leaving money on the table, not doing non-ferrous metal, especially aluminium. Partiuclarly with so many doing the same wood projects.

[shrimuyopa]

Thank you so much for this! You guys really are concerned about this community and I love it!

[Rob_]

Wish this was all available when I started out some 20+ years ago. Great tips on using 1 flute cutters and the short explanation of different aluminum types. One thing to remember is that you only know what you machine and endmill are capable of is when you have gone too fast or too deep and have broken a few. So if you buy endmills, start with one or two versions (I'd suggest 1/4 and 1/8) and a few of each. I now use a professional CNC machine and sometimes fairly expensive tooling but I will still do this and buy a pack of 5 of the same endmills because I know I am going to break a few of them - it's all part of the game.

[Martin-ujzn]

Those pac-mans are so good. Didn't know it was just spray painted aluminium. Going to give it a shot.

[arbjful]

I think going for a slower feed rate is a safer option than sticking to the ‘safe’ range of the end mill. Going deep should also be avoided. Though I did manage to cut through a 10 mm stock as my first ever cnc job. Though I did go at a very low feed rate.
As one gets more experienced, workholding techniques will take up more of your time

[Moncriefs]

this video makes me more comfortable with buying a nomad

[brandons]

One thing they fail to mention in the video about coatings. If you're cutting aluminum stay away from coatings that contain aluminum. Aluminum likes to stick to itself. That will increase the chances of chips welding to the end mill. One thing that I disagree on is using a single flute tool. 3 flute end mills are the best option for cutting aluminum. The are more rigid than a single flute yet they have a large enough chip gullet to take a large cut without getting packed with chips. Avoid using "down cut" tools in metal as well. You'll have all kinds of issues with recutting chips.

A more advanced topic they didn't touch on is radial chip thinning. The smaller your radial step over on your tool the thinner the chip will be. If you use a tiny step over then you can go MUCH faster feed rate to achieve the proper chip thickness. This is more advanced than what the video here covers, but is also a reason why you could be putting excess heat into the work piece.

[futuresdojo]

I appreciate the super honest and no-gimmick approach in this video. But, I don't know what type of machine to buy as a beginner? Unless I missed it, I didn't catch that important detail. Any suggestions anyone?

[SpasmFingers]

I've been cutting aluminum, brass, and copper on my SO3 (HDZ) for a few years now, great to see some official support for it. Also, Aluminum speeds in carbide create? I need to update!