I have acquired a couple of aluminum plates and blocks from a friend. I should be able to make a project of some kind from them but do not know what to make.
I am looking for ideas on what to make.
The plate is and 25"x18" and 1/2" thick
It is T6061 aluminum.
Then there are a couple of solid blocks that are 6"x2"x1.5"
I made"T" nuts first for my machine. Throat plate for my band saw. Whatever you can imagine
What do you need?
I made an adapter plate for my Mafell FM 1000 WS using a similar block.
Stash it away until you need something or inspiration strikes. Lot’s of possibilities 
Mostly what you will make out of that alum is a mess. Wood is bad enough but alum is just at another level of hell.
Howdy! What bit would you use to cut this with? Thanks.
I would recommend one of our coated single flute tools: #278-Z, 274-Z, or 282-Z.
For more on that see the relevant videos at:
Yup, I’d stash it away until you have a need. Lots of possibilities, but good material is a treasure.
Here is a plaque milled (dry) on a Shapeoko 3 out of 0.250 inch aluminum. I used a 1/8 inch upcut and a 1/16 inch upcut bit with vacuum. These were two flute bits. Slowed the plunge rates down but otherwise mostly CC tool path parameters for aluminum. The bottom of the pocket feels smooth but still shows the tool path. I dont fuss with belt tension or optimizing the machine/tools/ milling for aluminum so this could be improved upon. One day wood, the next plastic, aluminum or brass, etching etc. I use the machine for whatever but dont worry too much about accuracy/precision/speed. The plaque will be polished and the pocket flooded with black paint or epoxy. These look super good.
I decide not to polish this one because nothing else on the Jeep is polished and I poured Boat Epoxy into it. This is the first time I have poured epoxy. You can see in my plaque the toolmarks showing through even though I thought I added too much dye. I tinted the epoxy with black dye but for this to color well the pocket needs to be deeper than 0.1 inch. Shallow epoxy over aluminum is not ideal for a solid black color. I also tried to just fill the pocket and not get epoxy on top of the letters, but I dont think that is necessary. I think by first milling a pocket covering the entire area inside the border about 0.05 in deep then pocketing around the letters another 0.10-0.15 inch deep, and polishing it, then I can pour the epoxy to cover the letters too. If the epoxy is not to thick over polished aluminum, I think it may still look okay but be a lot easier to color.
Hi Brian,
One of my biggest and most expensive hobbies is “custom car audio fabrication”. Many car audio enthusiasts like myself compete all over the United States to see who has the loudest stereo in their vehicles. We “all” purchase various size (Bus Bars, Distribution Blocks, Battery Terminals) to set our systems up. These are made of aluminum and copper, drill a hole use a tap tool insert threads and bam! just like that you have a bus bar. We pay an average of $50-$400 for these bus bars, ( look them up you will see) its a flooded market but if your overhead is low you can afford to lessen the price. Just call your local car audio shop and ask how much one is and you will be amazed how in demand these are… Best of luck.
Pic for reference, Car audio aluminum distribution block, this particular one sells for $80, there is money to be made in Aluminum & Copper. Easy DIY project if your looking for one.
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