[hive8]

I am looking to buy End Mills for Aluminium 2 Flute size 1mm to 8mm. Does anyone know a good source, I would prefer carbide with TIN coating or just carbide. These will only be used for Aluminium 6061 T5. If anyone has a different recommendation then 2 flute let me know. My Spindle goes from 5000 to 24000 RPM and is a 1.5kW Spindle with bearings for metal cutting.

[rs4race]

I found a couple of cheap carbide endmills on ebay that have been working really well.

[hive8]

From any particular seller, do they have cutting geometry for aluminium?

[hoss2006]

Check out Tooling House. End Mills
or Maritool.
Hoss

[hive8]

Thank you HOSS will check these 2 out.

[rs4race]

I have purchased from several sellers. They were advertised for aluminum, but I didn't double check the geometry.

[duraflap]

Here you go.
I buy many bits from
Hartlauer Bits
I have two cnc routers and cut some alum and lots of plastic. These people know their stuff.
Dennis at Duraflap Mudflaps

[hive8]

Thank you guys for all the info, I have one more question, I need to cut also chamfers of up to 2.5mm 45 degrees all in aluminium, what would be the best tool for that. I have some coated NC Spot Drills, but i don't think that will do the job OK.

[Tkamsker]

I learned the Hard way Alu Milling is all about cooling and miller geometry i have a 6 mm swiss Made miller with Single Flute and an extreme angle which Works outstanding .. My hint is geometry cooling fast Feed speed and low cut depth ..

Gesendet von meinem SM-N9005 mit Tapatalk

[hive8]

I bought special end mills for aluminium with the right geometry, just asking for the 45 degree chamfer tools, any info on that would be really helpful.

[LEARN]

I use regular carbide with my mill at work. It has a 3k minimum and maxes at 30k.

[hive8]

Hmm checked the address nothing came up. the 45 degree is for breaking a sharp corner, like bevels chamfers around a work piece.

[LEARN]

Yeah sorry . Also I did not read whole post . Its early lol.have you checked with production tool supply

[hive8]

No I have not checked with them yet, will do in a bit.

[Med-Pac]

check out McMaster-carr

[coherent]

As already mentioned, some good deals for new ones can be found on ebay. The YG-1 Alu-Power have worked very well or me... . They YG-1's are specifically made for aluminum and the prices are reasonable. Also the "O" flute Olrud are mentioned a lot as being great for aluminum. Like others have mentioned all of the aluminum specific cutters are high helix angled cutters (normally 42-45 degree) and 1, 2 or at most 3 flute. Also important is your feed & speed settings. Do some searching for rpms in your desired rpm range (obviously depends if you have a mill with a slower rpm spindle or faster spindle or router setup. There are options using higher rpm spindles/routers at 18,000-22,000 rpm but they need higher cut speeds. If you don't have a mist or coolant system use WD40, a spray bottle or at the very least compressed air to clear chips. A bit of searching for posts from those who have "been there, done that" should answer most of your questions.

[kentw]

Check out MSCdirect.com. I use their ACUPRO line for all our alum cutting. 3 flute, ZrN coating. Have yet to find anything better. BTW, we tried the YG1's against the ACUPRO's............no contest. Try the ACUPRO ZrN coated.

[MikeC8]

For your chamfer, either a 90° spot drill, or 90° 2 flute chamfer mill will work for your 45° chamfers. I have been using a 1/8" and 1/4" carbide spot drill for my chamfers.