On 13.02.12 01:10, gene heskett wrote: > This particular sheet of alu seems to be dead soft. The chips it was > making looked about the right size spinning around in the oil. > > I don't have water out there other than used. :) And no real drainage > system exists although I have considered just setting the whole mill into a > pan about an inch deep, if I could find a suitable pan.
Gene, if milling that shiny toffee is the only game in town, and there's neither water nor drainage, then what about methylated spirits in a good spray bottle? Lots of that should cool well, and evaporate. The one time I milled soft Al sheet was once too often. The swarf welds back onto the workpiece, the way I go at it. Definitely needs coolant, but it's still masochism. Do you have an unloved diecast box, or larger aluminium-ish cast enclosure, with a sufficiently thick section that you can hack out? I've found that milling cast Al can be done without coolant, and without toffee-like tackiness. The swarf comes off cleanly, but a bit of metho spray can help prevent eventual build-up. Erik > Running under cutting oil, about 1/16" deep, is a shop that's showing 51F, > really s/b cold enough. My experience is limited, but for me, the oil just helps to keep the swarf near the tool, and even drag it back between the tool and workpiece. Perhaps I should have used a higher spindle speed, but it's a pain to shuffle the belts on the 3/4 ton mill. Soft Al is only good for melting down together with a bit of copper and a bit of zinc, to make an alloy we can machine, I think. Erik -- While you don't greatly need the outside world, it's still very reassuring to know that it's still there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Try before you buy = See our experts in action! The most comprehensive online learning library for Microsoft developers is just $99.99! Visual Studio, SharePoint, SQL - plus HTML5, CSS3, MVC3, Metro Style Apps, more. Free future releases when you subscribe now! http://p.sf.net/sfu/learndevnow-dev2 _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
