Uploaded May 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
CNCMOLDS.com - CNC Molds N Stuff
Making parts to fix the machines that make the parts.
I sometimes forget that Wood Ripper 1 started life in my shop as Metal Nibbler 4. My big mill stuck the quill a couple weeks ago, and my little mill suffered a controller failure leaving me trying to make precision parts on my manual mill. Then it came to me that I could cut aluminum with light cuts on my CNC router too. This is nearly dry machining. I rubbed a bit of cutting oil all over the surface of this 6061 aluminum bar stock and let her rip. Its cutting at about 100 inches per minute, but its only taking about .005 depth of cut and 40% step over int he pockets. The math says I could be more aggressive than that, but this is working so far. Besides this machine has the rigidity of an aldente noodle.
Special thanks to Dragonfly in the CamBam Forum for suggesting I make this plate to fix a problem on one of my other machines.
CNCMOLDS.com - CNC Molds N Stuff
Making parts to fix the machines that make the parts.
I sometimes forget that Wood Ripper 1 started life in my shop as Metal Nibbler 4. My big mill stuck the quill a couple weeks ago, and my little mill suffered a controller failure leaving me trying to make precision parts on my manual mill. Then it came to me that I could cut aluminum with light cuts on my CNC router too. This is nearly dry machining. I rubbed a bit of cutting oil all over the surface of this 6061 aluminum bar stock and let her rip. Its cutting at about 100 inches per minute, but its only taking about .005 depth of cut and 40% step over int he pockets. The math says I could be more aggressive than that, but this is working so far. Besides this machine has the rigidity of an aldente noodle.
Special thanks to Dragonfly in the CamBam Forum for suggesting I make this plate to fix a problem on one of my other machines.
