Aluminum is a pretty amazing material for several applications. It’s ratio of material strength to weight makes it the perfect choice for producing a wide range of components for several industries. It is also significantly softer than steel, making it much easier to machine. Despite the fact that aluminum is softer than steel, you cannot use the same tools to machine both materials. It is important to use special end mills for aluminum if you want to machine components from this material while minimizing any potential risk to your workpiece or your tools.

Aluminum requires material specific tools for several reasons. The biggest issue to overcome is how aluminum alloys create chips during high speed machining. When steel is cut, it’s dense and rigid nature causes the chips to break up into smaller, almost powder-like pieces. The issue with aluminum chips is that they are flexible and they do not break as easily. This can lead to long and heavy chips forming that may not be easily cleared from the cutting tool.

As metal removal rates increase, the risk of chips getting caught near the cutting edges. If these chips are not properly evacuated, they can jam up at the bottom of your cutter. This can lead to the chips being continuously cut until the resulting almost powdered aluminum can compact and jam up your tool. Small pieces of aluminum may also cling to the edges of your tools, causing more wear during regular operations.

In order to prevent any of these scenarios from occurring, end mills for aluminum have a few unique design features. In order to provide more room for chip evacuation, lower flute counts are preferred. Typically these tools feature 3 flutes which also have a steep helix angle to put more upward force on the chips and move them away from the cutting edges. Finally these tools are usually treated with a layer of gold colored ZrN which lowers the friction on the cutter and makes it harder for chips to stick to the edges.

The shape of an end mill has a big influence on its performance, but it is not all that you should consider. End mills, especially those being used to cut harder materials at high speeds have to stand up to extreme temperatures and intense impacts. These factors will eventually wear down any tool, so the material used to make your end mills is crucial. Carbide is one of the best options due to its superior edge retention and temperature tolerance when compared to stainless steel tools.

If you need some carbide end mills for aluminum for your shop, you can find some great options when you visit Online Carbide. They are an American carbide drill bit and end mill manufacturer dedicated to providing shops with high performance tools at manufacturer direct prices. You can see their full tool inventory at www.onlinecarbide.com. If you have any questions about their tools, feel free to reach out to their team by sending an email to [email protected].