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Unpopular opinion: I stopped using the shop's standard 0.005 inch finish pass on aluminum parts.
I was running a batch of 6061 brackets on our Haas VF2 and the cycle time was killing me. On a hunch, I tried a single 0.015 inch finish pass with a fresh 3-flute endmill running at 450 sfm. The surface finish came out just as good, and I saved over 20 minutes per part. Has anyone else pushed their finish passes further without messing up the part?
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mary_schmidt6mo ago
Wait, you're running a 0.015 finish pass dry? Or are you using coolant? I'd be worried about chip welding at that depth if the coolant isn't perfect.
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