Anyone have any experience working with aluminum?
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Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact.
Anyone have any experience working with aluminum?
>>767412336
Yes. It's called aluminium.
It is called aluminium you fucking fat muppet.
>>767412476
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium
>>767412541
It goes both ways dotard
>>767412476
Limey twat detected
Keep the cutting fluid handy and you can always go faster than you think. Make sure you have a machineable alloy if machining and make sure its weldable and you have the right filler if welding.
Journeyman tin knocker here. Local 33. What's up.
>>767412544
Fuck Wikipedia.
It's called Aluminium you language ruining pricks
>>767412476
>>767412541
>>767412660
It's aluminum. You're all a lot of police state cucks anyway.
Also:
Color
Behavior
Etc
>>767412638
I was actually wondering if WD-40 would work
>>767412476
It's aluminum you fucking serf
Saying "aluminium" is dumb when you can say "aluminum", and speak more efficiently because you're saving yourself the extra syllable.
>>767412745
This this and this. Dude I fucking hate brits and ausfags.
>>767412745
Uncultured redneck fucks, go back to eating "z'getti n cheez" and fucking your sister...
>>767413024
I like the workout
>>767412788
Wd40 is not a very good lubricant. Use ATF or heavy motor oil
>>767413024
Eurofags don’t get common sense
>>767412788
No. Wd40 is actually a pretty shit lubricant. If you're in a pinch use canola or peanut oil. Actual cutting oil is best though.
>>767413072
I disagree. I masturbate with WD40.
>>767412788
It's flammable. Go nuts.
>>767413060
OK Mr can't pronounce 95% of the language. Say 3. Not free. 3. Fuck you niles.
>>767413122
Of course, my gender is Apache attack helicopter
>>767412788
wd-40 is fine for aluminum unless you are taking more than a 1/8th inch then i would use a thicker oil
>>767413072
Its a small piece tho, only boring out maybe an inch and a half deep and 3 inches long, been spraying wd40 on it and I got about halfway deep and saw it smoking so I stopped and posted this thread, the metal doesn’t seem scorched tho.
>>767412788
kerosene works
Wd40 works excellent as a cutting oil. Thicker oil is not as good. You can buy aluminum specific cutting out but the wd40 works better
>>767413356
I just wanted to make sure I’m not crazy and ruining the metal, this is my first time milling
>>767413474
youll wear your toolbit before affecting the metal
>>767413474
you can run it dry with good tooling and the right speeds and feeds
Wd is fine. No worries if its smoking. Can sometimes leave a stain but wont matter really unless it does in which case you wouldnt be asking b for advice
>>767413162
It's called English not American you simpleminded swampdweller.
Go back to stroking your semiautomatic dick compensator. I bet it makes you feel real manly.
>>767413276
It’s just the WD pulling heat out of the metal and cutter. It won’t start in fire. Aluminum is really bad for cementing to cutters and they make specific aluminum cutters to help with that. You can use coolant as well but is just rock the wd40. Ive been a machinist sense 2002 and have my own machine shop and work with a fair amount of aluminum. If you get really excited you can even anodize your parts. I set up a small scale anodizing rig for about $200
>>767413474
What type of mill you working on also?
>>767414007
Just a drillpress for now, lol. Its a small area to mill
>>767412336
shits toxic as fuck, if grinding it wear a damn dusk mask. (inb4 but beverage cans, beverage aluminum cans are coated on the inside)
don't use sharp/new bits and mills on it unless you brass them first ("brassing" tooling is the machinists term for intentionally dulling them so they don't get pulled out the the vice and climb up the tooling"
WD-40 is fine for a cutting fluid, you only really need it for tapping though.
be weary of cast aluminum, shits loaded with silica. you can weld it though but it takes some skill and its rough on tooling
heat up the whole damn piece to atleast 400 degrees F when welding it if you want your welds to be as strong as posible.
when annealing aluminum you have to use a sooty flame or else it won't work, you have to burn off the oxide layer and clean burning flames won't unbind the oxygen.
>>767413784
All I’ve been using is high-end drillbits, a drill press and carbide end mills. I’ve had to hold the metal piece in place and slide it around to mill it horizontally within the jig. Hands get tired after a while, that fucker jerks around
>>767413690
Yeah. We know.
>>767412336
Yeah
its pretty easy to deal with. just not as stretchy as mild steel
what are you doing?
>>767412336
watch for chip welding to your end mills, don't use aluminum end mills on other materials because of it.
use some kind of cutting fluid if possible
>>767414744
Ar lower
>>767414007
is that a converted manual machine?
I have a Tormach 1100 and a manual knee mill from the 80s.
Not OP btw.
>>767414827
Nice
What kind of endmill are you using?
For milling a deep trench like that generally try to use a higher rpm and slower feed so as to minimize deflection of the cutter. Also use plenty of lubricant and blow the chips clear of where you're working often.
>>767415396
M'yep.
10 year machinist here
if you have the time go to your local machine shop and see if they do any apprenticeships
if they say yes get ready to be sweeping floors for a few months but they will teach you inbetween and pay you for your work
>>767415414
5/16th carbide endmill, I did what the internet said and got the 3/8th too (for $15 bucks a pop!!) but its too big and jerks around
>>767415414
Samefag. Yea I got about halfway tonight and doing the rest this week, I probably need to turn the rpm up
>>767412638
You don't need any fluid for aluminum. I am a sheet metal mechanic and can drill a few hundred rivets/holes daily with a bit no problem. Get a cobalt drill bit, all you need. As far as welding goes that shot is funny as fuck. The puddle is a lot quicker and you can't go back over it if your arc gets away from the puddle like you can with mild steel. And its gonna look ugly, even if its structurally sound, it will look like shit compsritively speaking.
>>767416020
Jerks around? Like how?
Also are you doing climbing cuts or trailing cuts?
>>767413690
*simple-minded
*semi-automatic
>English not American
Ye, I don't think you're qualified to lecture anyone on either.
>>767416139
You should really use cutting fluid if you're milling.
>>767414274
Who the fuck works with soda cans. And no, aluminum is not toxic in any way shape or form. The ONLY thing you need to worry about is in a high oxygen environment when you are creating very large amounts of very fine dust from the aluminum as that shot WILL explode. It is not toxic. And furthermore, toxicity aside, you should be wearing a respirator if you are kicking particulates in the air anyways.
>>767414274
Who the fuck brasses off tools for alu? Special alu cutters are polished and super sharp for a reason.
Also why would you want to anneal alu? You can't exactly get back the temper easily...
>>767416211
I’m basically drilling a few holes and then switching the bit with the end mill and holding it on the plate of the drillpress with my hands and moving it so that it cuts horizontally and planes out the bottom. Is that the wrong way to do it?
>>767416337
dumb fucker, it is toxic the oxide layer is what makes it safe to handle, remove the oxide layer and just handling it will color your hands.
https://drlwilson.com/Articles/ALUMINUM.htm
>>767416432
Oh, I though you had a real mill.
With a drillpress only what you're doing is as good as it's going to get really. And trailing (conventional) cutting is when the cutter is positioned to rotate away from the metal you want to remove. Climbing is when the cutter wants to cut into the metal. Next time try higher rpm and a trailing cut and it should be more controllable.
>>767416432
Yes, that's so wrong. It's gonna grab and jerk on you. You need a solid work holder. You'll lose a finger or two, or break your wrist doing it that way.
If you're handy, make a milling table with some wood and c clamp screws to feed the material into the cutter.
>>767416639
Bro, do you know how much fucking aluminum oxide you would need to inhale to be toxic? No you fucking don't because there are no irrefutable studies on it, because it is not a fucking concern. If you are introducing enough aluminum particulate in the air to worry about aluminum oxide, you would be wearing a breathing device already as you would probably fucking suffocate from the lack of air. And furthermore, since obviously we are being pedantic, any overexposure to almost every fucking heavy metal is "toxic".
Tl;dr If you aren't allergic to aluminum oxide you're fucking fine and if you are creating enough dust to every think about worrying about fucking aluminum oxide, you have other things to worry about like being able to fucking breath or not exploding.
>>767412336
Dude just go to /k/ and ask them in an 80% thread
>>767415657
What you mean learning machining is like learning karate from Mr. Miyagi?
Yes, a lot --
does recycling my beer cans count?
>>767416432
clamp something to the table to at least stop the rotation if you can't clamp the jig down
don't mill in a drill press, it will knock the chuck out of the taper because it doesn't have a draw-bar holding it in.
don't mill using a drill chuck either.
>>767414274
>don't use sharp/new bits and mills on it unless you brass them first ("brassing" tooling is the machinists term for intentionally dulling them so they don't get pulled out the the vice and climb up the tooling"
kek
im highly allergic to aluminum
>>767412594
Nope.
You yanks just can't fucking spell. Dumb cunt.
>>767416639
I have worked as a sheet metal mechanic for 10 years, I am qualified and trained in almost all metalurgical safety standards that is required by OSHA and multiple shipyards throughout the country. The only metals you worry about, save for radioactive ones, are lead, stainless steel, some chrome alloys (including SS), arsenic, mercury, cadmium, beryllium, and Zinc (galvanized, zinc paint). The only time you worry about aluminum being an airborne hazard is during sandblasting. You need to be careful, however when casting or working with molten aluminum as it can explode, as can aluminum oxide dust. And as far as coloring your hands, kek. Just wash it off. You get exposed to more aluminum drinking soda/beer, using shampoo, using antiperspirant deodorants/sprays.
>>767413024
You fucking faggot.
>>767418259
And you muslims don't get to make any ar15s
>>767412544
yeah, exactly, Aluminium. Just like the link says
>>767412336
Yes, I'm quite the expert if i do say so myself
Aluminum was given its name: ALUMINUM first. You goddamn hippie britbongs have to have a rhyming scheme and repetition in your faggot ass vernacular, so you fuckers changed it. YOU are saying it wrong.
clamp that shit to the table or use a vise. do not hold it
>>767418807
>Aluminum was given its name: ALUMINUM first
uhm.... no? what?
You’re lucky you haven’t lost a hand already. Clamp it down.
>>767412336
There’s a 10% tariff on that now, bitch. Suck my balls.
>>767418807
Fooking colonists haven't learned shit in 240+ years have you?
>>767413024
or you could just be correct and say alumium
>>767419194
Dude man, it's a 5 second Google. For fuck's sake.
https://www.webelements.com/aluminium/history.html
>>767417336
no cleaning floors is just somthing that needs to be done but they will move you up to making parts getting you on jobs a little more complicated each time
>>767419560
We learned that if a mother fucker names something we don't go changing it because we don't like the way it sounds, you fucking eurocuck. We just go to war over it like real men.
