Bit advise

[casey_h]

I am cutting 4'x8' sheets of .5" marine grade aluminum using a three 8th" two flute up spiral carbide bit but it gets dull and loud quickly. anyone know of a better bit that won't break the bank to purchase.sharpening reduces the cutting diameter and i need to be precise so i can only sharpen it once or twice max.

[carlcnc]

Casey
what works for me,
rpms-12000, at about 75 ipm
take light cuts, i do a max of .050 per pass.
these shallow passes are just a fact of life when
doing aluminum on a router vs a milling machine
with flood coolant ,
good luck
Carl

[john_l]

Carl, What bit are you using?

[casey_h]

carl, i am using air cooling and i run at .3 x&y and .2 z @21,000 rpm with .05 depth per pass do you think fluid cooling would get my speeds up. you said you are moving at 75 ipm did you mean .75?

[carlcnc]

John,Casey

Thsoe feed/speeds are what I use with a 2 flute 3/8 bit.
I work in in per min,75/60sec=1.25ips
.050 is the deepest I would go, maybe .025 would be better
I have some 10mm[.393]single flute bits that really help and last a long time.
I get them from http://www.rlschmitt.com/
good luck
Carl

[casey_h]

thank you for the info carl i will check out that site