Hi, First post but likely not my last
I am 47 and started my working life in engineering working on capstones and lathes and then went on to sheet metal fabrication and welding till I was about 22 then ended up in sales which is what I do now.
I have always enjoyed making things and have just got into making nixie clocks and have always wanted to make one similar to Nixie Machine II Exclusive edition M.A.D.Gallery if you have a look,
So I have now bit the bullet and bought myself a little Clark CL500M and am about to start working on my clock legs, they are being made out of 12 mm aluminium plate that I've had cut to the blank sizes I need.
My legs will look a little like spider legs and will have curves and straights to machine out.
I have various end mills of all HSS sizes 2 mm - 12 mm some 4 flute some 2 & 3 flute that I will mostly use to mill out these parts, I have bought a 6" rotary table for my curves but it has been a very long time since I used any kind of milling machine so could do with some advice.
As I understand it with aluminium I don't necessarily need coolant but I have got a compressor to constantly blow away chips.
I have it on its fastest 1630 rpm
I know this is not a professional machine by any capacity it is just a hobby machine but hey this is my hobby.
Can anyone advise what is reasonably the most I can remove on each pass, so how deep into the 12 mm plate and how far in - so can I do 5 mm deep and 5 mm into the plate or less or more, what would be a safe speed to operate my power feed - should I even use the power feed
I will be grateful for any advice that will save me burning and breaking cutters until Iv'e learned the hard way
Thanks
I am 47 and started my working life in engineering working on capstones and lathes and then went on to sheet metal fabrication and welding till I was about 22 then ended up in sales which is what I do now.
I have always enjoyed making things and have just got into making nixie clocks and have always wanted to make one similar to Nixie Machine II Exclusive edition M.A.D.Gallery if you have a look,
So I have now bit the bullet and bought myself a little Clark CL500M and am about to start working on my clock legs, they are being made out of 12 mm aluminium plate that I've had cut to the blank sizes I need.
My legs will look a little like spider legs and will have curves and straights to machine out.
I have various end mills of all HSS sizes 2 mm - 12 mm some 4 flute some 2 & 3 flute that I will mostly use to mill out these parts, I have bought a 6" rotary table for my curves but it has been a very long time since I used any kind of milling machine so could do with some advice.
As I understand it with aluminium I don't necessarily need coolant but I have got a compressor to constantly blow away chips.
I have it on its fastest 1630 rpm
I know this is not a professional machine by any capacity it is just a hobby machine but hey this is my hobby.
Can anyone advise what is reasonably the most I can remove on each pass, so how deep into the 12 mm plate and how far in - so can I do 5 mm deep and 5 mm into the plate or less or more, what would be a safe speed to operate my power feed - should I even use the power feed
I will be grateful for any advice that will save me burning and breaking cutters until Iv'e learned the hard way
Thanks