Milling (Topic: 16160)

Milling is very suitable in aluminium alloys. The rotation of the tool continuously brings fresh edges into action. Each tooth produces a short chip allowing the cutting fluid to become effective.

Aluminium can be milled at high speeds, but machine rigidity is important to prevent chatter. Milling in aluminium is most often performed as climb cutting i.e. both work and cutter teeth move in the same direction. The cutter must be highly polished and with coarse-pitch teeth and roomy flutes. There are a variety of machines available such as horizontal milling, vertical milling, universal milling and routing. Today, more and more of these operations may be carried out in a CNC machining centre,. All operations should normally utilize a cutting fluid.

Some typical values for milling

References: [2,3,6]