can anyone reccomend good bits for aluminum, 1st timer here
Two flutes with TiB2 or ZrN coating will do nicely. Onsrud single flutes Al alloy end mills are awesome, especially for small machines.
mark
I use 2 flute,45 helix bits with good finish and cut speed. You can go down to a single flute but these are,for me anyway,hard plastic bits over Alu. I just use uncoated Carbide,fancy coatings are good for the right situation but they ânormallyâ require faster speeds to take full advantage of.
You can go down to a single flute but these are,for me anyway,hard plastic bits over Alu.
Onsrud would have words with you. They explicitly make single flute Al alloy end mills. There are many reasons for using single flutes:
I just use uncoated Carbide,fancy coatings are good for the right situation but they ânormallyâ require faster speeds to take full advantage of.
Uncoated end mills wear out 3-5X faster than coated end mills but cost only 30-50% more. The do not require faster speeds that are out of reach of even the smallest mill or CNC machine.
mark
I have no doubt they do Mark,I use them at work often but I prefer 2 flutes none the less. Preference is not an indicator of performance as you know.
Regarding coatings,I paid ÂŁ4 a pop for my carbide mills,they wear very well indeed. Can you say you get the same cost/worktime ratio as me? Again,I feel the need to say that this is purely preference.
For a n00b âfor me anyway,hard plastic bits over Aluâ could be misleading. Itâs perfectly good and reasonable to use single flutes. In fact, for small machines, many would do better using them. They are expensive and seem exotic but they arenât⌠just uncommon to many.
Like you, I recommended two flutes first. Coatings are well worth the money and allow moving a little bit faster. No reason to not go straight to them.
mark
End mills from quality sources here in the states are US $9-12. Coating adds US$1-2.
Even if they donât go âpeddle to the metalâ faster with coatings, when machining metal and hardwoods the value equation points to using coatings - the end mills last a lot longer.
Carbide is not simply carbide; one need to use quality sources. Yes, quality uncoated end mills work fine - they just wear out much faster than coated. When I started we didnât even see coatings - we only had HSS and we resharpened all the time!
mark
If I could emphasize âfor me anywayâ I would. I am not saying that single flute bits are not capable at all,Im just stating my preference for the given material,for plastics I wouldnt consider much over a good single flute.
for plastics I wouldnât consider much over a good single flute.
Onsrud - my choice for single flute end mills - is AWESOME for plastic. Single flutes for plastic - especially when finish is an issue - is hard to beat. We couldnât agree more!
I use them in pairs - one for roughing and a âspecialâ one for finishing. Really makes a difference for Acrylic and Polycarbonate.
For Al alloy on small mills and CNC machines, single flutes work amazing well, even dry. Two flutes, the old standby, is the usually place to start. I recommend the coatings because the cost equation is so far in their favor⌠but uncoated, quality carbide end mills work quite well.
Itâs really about the budget for the long term. If one doesnât have the money for coatings, of course one goes for the best they can afford. If one can get coatings, they are rarely going to be disappointed⌠especially for milling metals (TiB2 or ZrN) and hardwoods (AlTiN).
If one canât afford the best coating, many coatings are still much better than uncoated.
mark
FWIW, we have a bit on endmill selection on the wiki: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Endmills
Specific endmills for specific materials also sometimes get mentioned on the Feeds-Speeds page: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Materials
Is it possible for the 2.3 boards to be sent with upgrades to save on shipping two items?
Edward,
First off, VERY EXCITED to get my new machine!
As far as the PEM concernsâŚ
Having spent several years in the laser/brake/sheet metal world, I am very familiar with the issues/concerns with captive nuts and studs. Have you considered flowdrilling/flowtapping the holes? We have had great success with these and it also reduces purchased parts and cost.
Looking forward to playing with the S3.
-GJH
*THREAD SUMMARY THROUGH 4/12/16
This thread is getting difficult to follow because of some off topic posts. Iâll try to summarizeâŚ
- SO3 XXL and XLâs will be arriving to customers starting this week (arrivals starting 4/12/16)
- These units will come with the carriages pre-assembled which saves 90% of the assembly labor (Thank you C3D!)
- Edward said the assembly guide was supposed to be finished 4/4. Is there a link so we can see it?
- Someone mentioned upgrade kits but I donât think there was a response to that question, or I missed it.
- The design is intended for the user to procure a piece of 1/2" material to use as an actual sacrificial layer - leaving the included MDF piece in tact with no need to be replaced.
@Tony - Nice Summary, that looks correct to me!
XXL Kits - Weâre stalled shipping these until the rest of the wasteboards show up - at this point they are more than likely not coming until next Monday/Tuesday. More on that in a minute.
XL Kits - We started shipping those yesterday and will continue shipping today and Tomorrow. If all goes well ALL of the XL kits will be shipped by the end of the week.
XXL and Upgrades - assuming that all of the XL kits are shipped by the end of the week, we can focus the rest of our efforts on XXL kits and Upgrade kits next week.
I know that weâre behind our projected schedule, weâll keep working through the backlog until itâs cleared up. If/when we get some information about the wasteboards, iâl be sure to update this thread.
In the meantime, here are few pictures I snapped yesterday from around the shop.
@Edward, curious if the upgrade kits will include just the new Z plate or the X-Y carriage assembly?
If it is the plate only, will this work with the existing X carriage and adjust the belt properly?
Thanks.
The upgrade kits will indeed include the new Z-plate, but not the pre-assembled X and Y plates. But - assuming youâre upgrade an existing machine - your carriages will already be assembled 
-Edward
Yes, they are assembled, was,curious if the Z belt tensioning works with the new Z plate and previous X carriage design.
Iâll likely tear down the carriage plates and inspect for wear and clean everything well.
Very hard to make things with pictures!!! I need a MACHINE to make money with
Would rather eat the cost of buying and cutting my own wasteboards if it meant I would get the machine sooner. Is that an option?
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As the originator of this thread, I want to weigh in on the newly emerging âI want it nowâ view:
It seems to me that when we signed on to this purchase we knew we were buying into a new product version with growing pains. Production delays were an implicit part of the bargain. Is there anyone here who can honestly say they didnât know that the shipping schedules were (unavoidably) cast in jello?
I would much rather that they take time to get things right than have them rush stuff out to satisfy folks who arenât willing to complete the journey we all signed up for.
Ed and all, thanks for the pictures and the updates. Communication makes the waiting much easier. We appreciate the care and attention to detail on your part. Since many of us have been involved in large product rollouts ourselves, we understand the inevitable issues, and we see that you are on top of them, without being willing to switch into a âget something, anything, out the door, no matter how badâ mode that we have seen others fall into.
Please donât be swayed or discouraged by the short attention span contingent - theyâll get over it when their shiny new toy arrives. We all feel impatient, but most of us take a longer term view, and most of us can put ourselves in your shoes.
Keep up the great job Team Carbide.
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