Aluminium on Elite

Will the elite be able to cut 6081 and 7075 (any condition) aluminiums?

Can’t find a definitive “yes” on the forum or one finity website.

lots of people cut aluminum with the non-elites. It should do the same. Its not a mill but you can do it with the right speeds and feeds and the right end mills.

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Work in progress. Cutting holes in 1/2 inch aluminum

Coolant ethanol,

8000 rpm
3.175 mm 3 flute end mill
Pass depth 0.3 mm
Feed rate 1.5 m/min

I have definitely broken a few bits to get there, but now it’s working.

30 minutes machining time for the holes,
Now it’s time for the profile cut.

Usually I do not sit next to my machine, but this pretty much the limit to what is possible on this machine.

I guess with a sturdier table (metal, not MDF) and a 80 mm spindle that can run really slow you might get less problems.

This is the buildbotics controller.

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Sure, it will cut aluminum. Bit type and speeds and feeds need to be appropriate.

Hey Geige,

Aaah! How good that is to see in this forum values that I understand immediately! No ipmgallonfahrenheitempire!

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Aiph5u

I am sorry I cannot agree with the awful comment below :imp:

Imperial rules for machine work
After being taught metric at school and leaving in 1984 A month later I started my engineering apprenticeship and since then have worked mainly in imperial with a little metric

Here in the UK we still purchase timber from the mill in cubic feet!!

D

Aaah! How good that is to see in this forum values that I understand immediately! No ipmgallonfahrenheitempire!

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Oh, absolutely you can cut aluminum on any 1F. I cut these profile gages for work on a much lesser machine than than the Onefinity (my previous Chinese CNC, but it was/is a very good machine). This was 7075 aluminum. Success is dependent on the right machine (this machine only had NEMA 17 motors, too) and technique.

Another pic cutting aluminum on the same machine, but this was only 6061 grade.

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Hey Darren,

what should disturb you when someone expresses joy that they see units they know and understand immediately?

Hey Darren,

yes, I know, my condolences :wink:.

I think what people realized in the past, in the 18th century, when industrialization and trade around the world started, is if every people in the world uses a different units system, they all have big problems. By chance, this was recognized early and so already in 19th century, nearly all countries in the world decided to use a common units system, the SI units system. The SI system is not simply just another units system. Each unit is based on a physical quanitity that is the same everywhere, so even aliens from outer space would be able to know the exact dimension of each of the seven base units.

For deploying this in the entire world, it was necessary for every single citizen in the world to abandon the units system they knew and they were used to. Do you think this was easy? But look how many people took that step, and this already in the 19th century:


Image 1: Adoption of metric system by country.


Image 2: Metrication by year: Year of begin of official process for conversion to the metric system.

The United Kingdom joined in 1973. Canada the same (both lime-colored). France was the first because they had their revolution already in 1789.

In the USA, the SI system has been the “preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce” since 1975 according to United States law. However, conversion was not mandatory (see today’s U.S.C. § 205b).
.


[OT] I heard that musicians and orchestras in particular find it complicated to visit the UK. They now need entry and residence papers and have to pay duty on their instruments. Many say it’s not worth it. I find that very sad.

Don’t you think that if the UK isolates itself this way, it makes adoption of a units system that the rest of the world uses (including most sectors in the USA) difficult?

Pounds and ounces return in victory for metric martyrs
Boris Johnson announces the return of imperial weights and measures


Further Reading

U.S. Customary units (the U.S. does not use the Imperial system) are also based on physical quantities that is the same everywhere, since they are defined in terms of SI units.

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Hey Barry,

that is true, but whom does that help. They remain units that are different from what the rest of the world, ouside the USA (except imperial units users), uses.