Finish milling aluminum requires high cutting speed, effective chip evacuation, low-affinity carbide, sharp polished edges, and suitable cutting fluid. This guide explains why aluminum tends to adhere to cutters, why water-soluble fluids can create surface pinholes, and how a large-rake-angle face mill uses one finishing tooth with three semifinishing teeth. Tables provide rake, clearance, inclination, wiper width, milling speed, feed rate, and axial depth of cut for soft, wrought, and quenched aluminum. The article preserves the source’s reported process conditions, material designations, units, and technical relationships for practical engineering reference.
Aluminum alloys have relatively low strength and hardness and good thermal conductivity, producing light milling loads and low cutting temperatures. High cutting speeds can be used with carbide cutters; a typical milling speed is v = 300-600 m/min. However, aluminum is ductile and has a low melting point, so it tends to adhere to the cutter and impede chip evacuation. Aluminum milling cutters should have fewer teeth and a large rake angle, γn = 20°-30°. The surface roughness Ra of the rake and flank faces should be below 0.16 μm. YG-series carbide inserts should be used to reduce chemical affinity between aluminum and the tool material.
Water-soluble cutting fluids should not be used for finish milling aluminum because they can produce fine pinholes on the machined surface. Kerosene or diesel fuel can be used instead.
A large-rake-angle face mill for aluminum finish milling clamps each insert to a round cutter bar with a small clamp plate. The round bar fits in a square sleeve, which is installed in a cutter-body slot and secured with a set screw. Because the cutter bar is cylindrical, the cutting-edge inclination λs can be adjusted as needed. One tooth is a finishing tooth and the other three are semifinishing teeth. During setup, the finishing tooth should have a slightly smaller radial dimension than the semifinishing teeth but project approximately 0.05 mm farther axially.
| Workpiece Material | Rake Angle γ0 | Clearance Angle α0 | Cutting-Edge Inclination λx | Wiper Width bx (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soft aluminum | 30°-32° | 18°-20° | 42°-45° | 4-6 |
| Wrought aluminum and quenched aluminum sleeve/pot | 20°-25° | 15°-18° | 32°-42° | 4-6 |
| Milling Speed v (m/min) | Feed Rate vf (mm/min) | Axial Depth of Cut ap (mm) |
|---|---|---|
| 250-500 | 150-400 | 0.02-0.10; normally 0.03-0.06 |
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