I’ve searched and read about how people are cutting Aluminium and have some questions about chip evacuation and lubricant.
I plan to be cutting things listed as good for machining such as 6061T6 type plate. I’ve still got MDF as a spoilboard so I’d prefer not to hose the machine down with lubricant if I can avoid it.
I’ve seen lots of use of air jets to clear chips from the cut, some using mister / fogbuster combined air and lubricant / coolant systems. I’ve also seen recommendations ranging from pond air pumps though airbrush compressors up to full workshop compressors to drive them. I’d rather not have to run a loud workshop compressor but the “quiet compressors” are somewhat limited in CFM (litres / min) and duty cycle.
Questions;
What are people successfully using as chip evacuation / lubricant?
What sort of air volume (CFM / litres per min) do those methods need and how big a compressor?
I couldn’t buy one of those fancy California Air Tools silent compressors anywhere near me, and the “quiet” compressor I got turned out to be unbearable in my small garage, so for now I’m using the airbrush compressor mentionned near the end of that thread, coupled to an actual airbrush/nozzle aimed at the cut, it has worked out ok for me, and it IS very quiet. It does get very hot after one hour or so of continuous operation, but so far it has not died on me.
I bought a similar compressor here in Europe, by a company in the Netherlands, and by the looks of it seems to be of the same type as California Air Tools ones.
To be honest, I got it yesterday and have only turned it on to pressure it up, letting it sit overnight without power to check for leaks, it has not lost any pressure yet.
But what I can report, is that the noise is minimal compared to traditional piston compressors. It is as quiet as the 5 year old aquarium membrane water pump I have.
I will try to hook my two jet/mister nozzles tomorrow and get a test going, if I can find them amongst all boxes with the CNC stuff.
I am in the process of getting my new shop ready, so the S3XXL and the Beaver HDZero are disassembled, had to get them off the dining room table.
Chip evacuation? What chip evacuation? Who needs that when you use single-flute endmills
Jokes aside, for other Europeans, Sorotec also has a range of silent compressors. I don’t have one yet but I’ve been eyeing one for months. 48dB should be about as loud as the power supply for my machine.
I have a similar quiet compressor and use an air nozzle to clear chips. It depends on how large your nozzle is and how high pressure you use. Up to 3bar and a 1.6mm nozzle it’s on like 60%. Gets warm if run more than 30min but have no problem to cut 2hours.
I myself have a California Air Tools compressor, they are much quieter than the typical air compressor and bought it for that reason.
I currently don’t use any coolant/lubrication, I tried a cheap mister setup once and it just made chips stick, created a nasty fog and required more work to clean up. These days, for chip evacuation I just use my [Suck’it] dust boot with a Home Depot Dustopper, and has been working great [for flat stock]. I do want to revisit the mister setup with an alcohol based mix that is also pressurized (i.e. FogBuster) but isn’t a top priority with the results I get with out already.
I highly recommend single flutes as well, can be more costly but they are more forgiving and less prune to clogging IMO. I have used Carbide 3D’s (ZrN), Amana Tool’s (ZrN), and 2L inc. (PCD) single flutes, all with great success.
Just a heads up, we bought a “big” California Air Tools compressor when we were starting out and it died completely at 2000 hours. We had to replace one of the pumps and that one died at 2000 hours too, which matches other feedback we found online.
They’re good, affordable, and reasonably quiet but they seem to be better for intermittent use rather than all day use (if that’s what you’re looking for).
