CNC machining is a process where a computer-controlled cutting tool, such as a router or milling machine, is guided by a computer program (CAM) to cut material such as metals, plastics and wood. This process has become popular in the manufacturing industry because of its precision and low production cost.
CNC machines can cut aluminum with the help of a cutting tool to make any custom design parts. There are two main types of CNC machines that can be used to cut aluminum: cnc milling and cnc lathe. The cnc milling machine uses cutting tools to remove material from the workpiece in a precise manner. It is mainly used for cutting complex geometry of aluminum parts with high precision. On the other hand, cnc lathe mainly cut round shapes of aluminum parts, such as cylinder, cone, nut, round holes, screw etc. The tools on cnc lathe can remove material from the workpiece at high speed and high precision.
Can you CNC 6061 aluminum?
As the most popular and widely used type of aluminum alloy with CNC Machining technique, 6061-T6 aluminum can be easy to cut and drill with different types of cnc machines to achieve simple or complex geometry parts, and it is getting more and more popular due to aluminum cnc machines can make high precision parts for prototype sample or mass production, after anodizing surface treatment, 6061-T6 aluminum parts have high corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance with beautiful color surface, that you can see all Iphone and Apple mackbook are use 6061-T6 case.
Can a CNC Router Machine cut aluminum?
Machining aluminum with a CNC router is possible with most any CNC router due to aluminum alloy is a soft metal material, the machine should set up appropriate endmill bit and feed rate to match the aluminum properities. Don’t cut aluminum with cnc router too much fast and too much deep, always make sure to read your particular machines instruction manual fully and have a working knowledge of your equipment, watch the video to know how to cut aluminum on a desktop cnc router machine:
