Hey There,

I have an AXYZ 4x8' router table, 10hp spindle and am trying to work on my first real aluminium project - making profile cuts on letters around 18" high and some other pieces.

I did a test run - a small piece (2.5"X6") with some engraving and it turned out pretty bad. I mounted the 5052 .25" alu sheet on the vacuum table and secured it with some set screws just in case (into the mdf) and proceeded to cut out my piece.

Issues on the engraving (1/16" depth) - the edges weren't clean at all.. lots of burrs and the bottom finish felt grooved. I used a 1/8" 2fl upshear carbide end mill for the engraving with 15ipm@9100rpm.

Issues on the profile cut (.25" depth) - The piece started to move about half way through. I used a rod to hold it down while the machine finished up the job. But again (before the hard vibration) the cut wasn't super clean and left burring on the face. I was running a 1/4" 2fl upshear carbide end mill for the profile cut, 20ipm @9100rpm.

I hear stories of shops that can rip through this stuff pretty quickly and get good results, so I was wondering if anyone can advise me on what to do. I know I can add bridging to stop the part from moving, but on a letter that would be 18" high, would that be something people would do? As for the cuts, I'm all ears on hearing what you guys run for bits and feeds and speeds, I heard one shop running 1/4" bit, 200ipm @ 10000rpm and am so confused as to why I can't get a good cut at what I had programmed in. Both bits I used were brand new.

Cheers,

Frazer