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May 4, 2021, 09:03 AM
#101
Originally Posted by
geoffbot
What's wrong with aluminium? Plenty of bikes are made of it.
I don't really know.
Industrially it's a wonder metal. But for jewelry, not so much. Maybe the ubiquitous nature of it? It's a bit soft, so scratches easily (but can be hard anodized for a thin Anti scratch coating) but so it gold. Maybe because it's also light? Feels "cheap"? I read somewhere that our monkey brains prefer dense things.
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May 4, 2021, 12:06 PM
#102
Member
Does the inherent softness of aluminum make it too difficult to mill extremely fine detail? (unless you alloy in other metals)
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Retired from Fire/Rescue January 2019 with 30 years on the job
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May 4, 2021, 12:07 PM
#103
Member
This is a fantastic thread.
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Retired from Fire/Rescue January 2019 with 30 years on the job
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Post Thanks / Like - 2 Likes
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May 4, 2021, 08:31 PM
#104
Originally Posted by
chuckmiller
Does the inherent softness of aluminum make it too difficult to mill extremely fine detail? (unless you alloy in other metals)
Most of the aluminum I've machined including this is 6061-T6. Silicon alloyed, precipitation hardened and artificially aged. Sometimes called "aircraft grade" but it's really the workhorse alloy for nearly everything. It machines beautifully. I've done some architectural aluminum before as well as mystery alloy and it's soft, "gummy" and tears. It's awful. But 6061-T6 is one of the nicest materials to machine.
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May 4, 2021, 09:23 PM
#105
Originally Posted by
chuckmiller
This is a fantastic thread.
Yup
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Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
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Jul 26, 2021, 02:41 AM
#106
I've been upgrading the CNC to cut tougher metals and finally made some itty bitty progress.
Grade 5 titanium faced and small diameter (1.0mm) cutter milled.
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Post Thanks / Like - 2 Likes
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Sep 27, 2021, 05:33 AM
#107
Stainless test for hands experiment. Mostly success. And didn't break a single cutter today! (Started off wrecking a half dozen or so per day...)
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Post Thanks / Like - 2 Likes
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Sep 27, 2021, 07:26 AM
#108
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Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
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Jan 17, 2022, 12:44 AM
#109
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Post Thanks / Like - 3 Likes
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Jan 17, 2022, 02:34 PM
#110
Member
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Retired from Fire/Rescue January 2019 with 30 years on the job
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Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes