Cutter flute lenght for Aluminum

[criznach]

I think I'll order a longer end mill. Either I wasn't looking hard enough, or they weren't in stock when I bought the shorter one. I definitely see some 1/2" and 3/4" long flute options now. And I realized I do have a few of the inventables single flute bits. They worked for me on my other aluminum experiments, but man the coated aluminum specific bit sure did cut nicely! I think I'll hold out for the real deal.

Thanks everyone for the fixturing ideas. That's been one really fun aspect of learning all this stuff.

[danimal]

The aluminum specific bits do a great job. They just cost a little more, and the two that I have owned one snapped and the other got all gummed up when I was still figuring out the whole cooling thing. The last few parts I have built I just used the stock ones and they held up just fine.

[Brian]

The air hose should keep things from getting gummed up. I don't like manual applications of coolant and they can be inconsistent and provide thermal shock to the tool which weakens it. Check out little machine shop as they sell a small simple mist coolant setup ($35 IIRC) that you can run as an air blast or drop the suction hose into a container of coolant for mist cooling.