I have discovered that I like machining aluminum and brass almost as much as
I like machining wood. It is surprising how easy it is no machine aluminum
using standward woodworking tools like a band saw, scroll saw, drill press
and router.

I have a few rather strange router bits that I inherited from my father.
These are small 1/4 inch single flute bits designed to cut aluminum. They
are not carbide tipped but possibly pure carbide. The company that made them
is "The Tarpley Company". I can find nothing about the company and it's
products.

The question is can I use any carbide tipped router bit to route aluminum or
is that a really bad idea?

wrote in
:

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 23:41:39 GMT, "R. Pierce Butler"
wrote:

I have discovered that I like machining aluminum and brass almost as
much as I like machining wood. It is surprising how easy it is no
machine aluminum using standward woodworking tools like a band saw,
scroll saw, drill press and router.

I have a few rather strange router bits that I inherited from my father.
These are small 1/4 inch single flute bits designed to cut aluminum.
They are not carbide tipped but possibly pure carbide. The company that
made them is "The Tarpley Company". I can find nothing about the company
and it's products.

The question is can I use any carbide tipped router bit to route
aluminum or is that a really bad idea?


Bad idea! Typically router bits are large diameter, and not designed
for aluminum. Also I am not familiar with a single flute bit.

You can tell just by the weight if it's solid carbide or not. Carbide
has about twice the weight of steel.

Gary


I would say they are pure carbide. They are remarkably heavy.

R. Pierce Butler wrote:
wrote in
:

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 23:41:39 GMT, "R. Pierce Butler"
wrote:

I have discovered that I like machining aluminum and brass almost
as much as I like machining wood. It is surprising how easy it
is no machine aluminum using standward woodworking tools like a
band saw, scroll saw, drill press and router.

I have a few rather strange router bits that I inherited from my
father. These are small 1/4 inch single flute bits designed to
cut aluminum. They are not carbide tipped but possibly pure
carbide. The company that made them is "The Tarpley Company". I
can find nothing about the company and it's products.

The question is can I use any carbide tipped router bit to route
aluminum or is that a really bad idea?


Bad idea! Typically router bits are large diameter, and not
designed for aluminum. Also I am not familiar with a single flute
bit.

You can tell just by the weight if it's solid carbide or not.
Carbide has about twice the weight of steel.

Gary


I would say they are pure carbide. They are remarkably heavy.

Carbide is an obviously different color too.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

R. Pierce Butler wrote:
I have discovered that I like machining aluminum and brass almost
as much as I like machining wood. It is surprising how easy it is
no machine aluminum using standward woodworking tools like a band
saw, scroll saw, drill press and router.

I have a few rather strange router bits that I inherited from my
father. These are small 1/4 inch single flute bits designed to cut
aluminum. They are not carbide tipped but possibly pure carbide.
The company that made them is "The Tarpley Company". I can find
nothing about the company and it's products.

The question is can I use any carbide tipped router bit to route
aluminum or is that a really bad idea?

You can use high speed steel bits too, single flute or not. Just
don't try to take off too much at a time and be aware that aluminum
shavings may fuse (melt).

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 23:41:39 GMT, "R. Pierce Butler"
wrote:

I have discovered that I like machining aluminum and brass almost as much as
I like machining wood. It is surprising how easy it is no machine aluminum
using standward woodworking tools like a band saw, scroll saw, drill press
and router.

I have a few rather strange router bits that I inherited from my father.
These are small 1/4 inch single flute bits designed to cut aluminum. They
are not carbide tipped but possibly pure carbide. The company that made them
is "The Tarpley Company". I can find nothing about the company and it's
products.

The question is can I use any carbide tipped router bit to route aluminum or
is that a really bad idea?


Metals should be cut at a slower speed than metals. There are tables
you can get to find out the proper speeds for any particular metal.
Most routers turn too fast for metal work.

Tell that to the Boeing Aircraft Company. They (and their suppliers) have
been routing aluminum for years. Table mounted router. Template guided work.
The book speed for aluminum with carbide is 1200SFM. These table are very
conservative and were made in the early days of carbide. I routinely run
4000SFM with good results. I use better carbide than the average router bit
though but 2500SFM would not at all be unreasonable. A 1/2 router bit at
2500SFM would be turning at just over 19000 RPM. That said, I wouldn't do it
on a regular basis with any router I cared about. The machine is not
designed for it and aluminum chips gall up the works pretty bad. I have a
PC 690 sitting in the garage right now that has done considerable amounts of
aluminum. The height adjustment is wasted.

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
Metals should be cut at a slower speed than metals. There are tables
you can get to find out the proper speeds for any particular metal.
Most routers turn too fast for metal work.