Shark Capabilities for smooth aluminum cutting?

[btray]

Im trying to find about aluminum applications also...Ken had a good question about speed of router may be wrong for regular drill bits...I also need to drill in to 3/16 alum. plate about 600 holes per setting on average.

does z axis flex even if you feed the bit into material slowly?



thanks for handleing this issue

Bill

[Buc]

Bill,
Wood machines entriely different than metal. 600 holes in aluminum? That's a lot of holes. My personal opinion, I don't think you would be happy with the results. I have drilled a lot of holes in wood using an End Mill with good results.

The router motor turns about 9,000 RPM's faster than you need. 'Z' axis does flex. Not sure you could get constant hole depth without loosing steps.

If I were machining aluminum, I would want to use some type of coolant or lubrication to keep the drill bit cool. Coolant mist and aluminum Drill bit chips are nasty. The shark is not designed and manufactured for this type of conditions.

The control program is too basic. If you are drilling 30 holes in one part and you break a drill bit on hole #29, you start over at hole #1. No M.D.I. capabilities to start the program where you want.

These are some of my personal opinions. I've been wrong before.

Buc

[btray]

thanks Buc I really appreciate and respect your wisdom...that really sounds right...the holes are into 3/16 " plate and 13 holes in each 3x5" cast aluminum case...I would probably have to install a different drilling device for slower rpms...but the lubricate issue I hadnt thought of...there seems to be a particle board table that material sets on. So that wouldnt work...just trying to find a economical way to drill holes accurately and cut down on marking and measuring time.

I will take any suggestions of other equipment...like I said new to all of this...but need to do something with limited capital investment.

thanks again

Bill

[kghinsr]

I'm looking to do a little modification to the router mount to put a spindle mount
need this for some projects and the router for most others.
the spindle would be variable speed and a bit could be mounted easy
not sure what size of aluminum plate we are talking about but I've done
work on my milling machine with a fair amount of aluminum
If I were to use the shark for this project I would have a program that
each line would advance the bit the proper amount so if an error happened
you could repeat the line without having to go back more than that line
just my thought
ken

[Bob]

Bill,
I once needed to drill holes, but the speed was wrong and I also didn't think that the Shark would be stable enough. What I did instead, was to use a V bit to simply mark where each hole was to be drilled. (like a center punch mark) It was a very shallow mark with just enough of an indentation to give the drill a starting point in the material when using the drill press. So the Shark was used for layout only. One thing though...I used this method on some hard material, but not on aluminum. But since such light pressure is used it seems worth a try. If you already had a Shark, no problem. But, I don't know if it would be worthwhile to get one for such a limited use.
Bob

[zac]

Bill
Would you be able to do the drilling on a drill press, using a fence and multiple flip stops ?
Wayne

[Bob]

Bill,
Or a drilling fixture where the material is clamped to it and all holes are drilled through drill bushings located on the fixture?
Bob