I’ve been gearing up for another crack at routing non-ferrous metals on the CNC- primarily aluminium, but also brass & copper if the opportunity presents.
There are a couple of areas that did not get sufficient attention first time around, that along with feed rates and depth of cut, resulted in a few bit breakages.
The primary culprits are chip clearance, and lubrication.
I picked this up on eBay for a massive $10, including shipping (from Hong Kong)
Which is a misting unit. Compressed air entrains oil in the air stream, and simultaneously lubricates the cutting area, and blows the resulting chips clear.
For the price, it is worth the experiment! I have some upcoming projects that I want to do with aluminium, so hopefully this proves to be a good solution. If not, there are other solutions out there that don’t cost a lot more (although some are a lot of dollars for very little more).
You have to shop around on eBay- the one I bought for $10 is also sold for $40 from another supplier!
You can get something called a “FogBuster”, which in a practical sense is no more complicated, comes with a few extra parts (including a reservoir), and costs over $400. Not saying that it is a bad solution, and it may have some significant benefits, but I’ll start at the $10 mark and work up!
Hmm- I wonder where this is all leading? (And no, that is not a rhetorical question).
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