Cutting Aluminum - Shapeoko 5 Pro - Video 7

Directly out of the box Shapeoko 5 Pro is a complete solution for cutting wood, plastic AND METAL. Watch it shred aluminum with a variety of different cutters for large and small projects.

Single Flute Endmills

2 Flute Endmills

[PiefacePete]

Another good video, thanks.
My number four for the checklist would be "Know what you are cutting." It's shiny and silver, and not very heavy, so it's aluminium, right? Yep, probably is, but aluminium formulated to be squeezed through a die to be sold as flat bar at a hardware store will most likely stick to your cutter like bubblegum, clog the flutes, and make it self-shorten. (Break, Mary-Lou, it's called "breaking!") An alloy made specifically for machining will produce results that make you smile all day! (T-6061 or similar).
Try it out... give a boy a hacksaw and a piece of hardened tool steel, and start your camera rolling! 🥴 😉

[newmonengineering]

I have cut metal with makita router. But I definitely use single flute bits and I check the rpms at the start of each job. But a vfd would be awesome for sure. I also have air assist. Sometimes I use it with mist of wd40. Those look like great parts.

[RoigRageFitness]

Can you guys make a video on how to maintain and oil your Shapeoko. I can’t really find a good video out there. I know the basics for the oiling but is there anything that needs to be taken apart and oiled? A video would be helpful

[HarpellAutoFab]

We use our Shapeoko 3 xxl to cut aluminum with the carbide 3d router but not dry cutting. Added a mister and use hytap cutting fluid mixed with water. 40ipm with .040" depth. It cuts great but the waste board don't like it. Going to try some of the end mills recommended with just air and see how that goes. Would love to eliminate the cutting fluid.

[doesntmatter]

ALWAYS remember,
*Whats YOUR mission for a CNC Machine.
* What YOUR knowledge of CNC Machine
*YOUR learning curve of any CNC Machines
*Most important, YOU get what you pay for!!

[karlsangree]

Also, make sure your chip load is correct. Too high and you'll snap your end mill. If it's too low, friction will create a lot of heat to build up causing the aluminum to melt and fuse to your end mill... especially if you're not using cooling.

[automan]

any metal requires use of flood coolant or at least a mister. I mounted one to my 3 and bolted it to a tapped hole I drilled on the spindle clamp. A few hoses, regulator and a gallon container of kerosene/wd40 or synergy 735 coolant is all you need to prevent chip welding and have much happier cuts. It will pool and make a mess so you might want to put down plastic or some kind of board you don't mind getting soggy.

[iwannaratrod]

I'll add #4 to the list: Single flute endmills like the #278Z and #274Z. Especially the 1/4" as it gives you more margin for error. 1/8" is more forgiving of having 2 flutes.

[CryoftheProphet]

If you had this machine in the 2x2 format cutting aluminum Id probably buy it, you guys need more videos of this machine in aluminum since alot of us want to use it for that

[vegadcreative]

Do you have the basic tool library for fusion360 also? In metric. I know it’s not a carbide create problem. But that will be cool

[ahhsk]

5 Pro on order :) when are VFDs going to be back in stock?

[jorge]

I thought the air was for cooling. You can generate a lot of heat routing aluminum.

[BrodyEthan-or]

Do you need the sign making (tempered) endmills for aluminum?

[subdrums]

Great video as usual! Covered almost everything here. What would be your recommended chip load (feeds and speeds) for engraving with v-bits?

[JF]

Throw some 304 on it and see how it does. I'm impressed so far....

[KarlPrukk]

Great tip: use single flute endmills. it just works wonders, trust me ;)

[arbjful]

Can we work on 20 mm deep aluminum blocks? We need to drill holes and chamfer the edges, is this possible with the Shapeoko? Also is it possible to cut stock lengths of T2080 slotted aluminum rail? I don't have to buy a separate chop saw then

[okieltr]

What hold down clamps are you using here?

[javieruriel]

What is the suitable workbench for the shaepoko 4?

[MG-tp]

Does it come with a fine bottle of bourbon and the plan for that cube maker?