The end mill seemed to have been damaged, i.e.Its speed wasn't constant, it almost completely blocked at some point and jumped a bit. The spindle seemed to have a rough time during the operation.The cut is way more wavy, not straight and rough on the inside. This is not the case with the other 3 lines. The top horizontal line seems to be fairly straight / parallel to the top surface of the plate and the inside surface finish is close to perfect.I have a large circle at the point of first contact which seems way off the cutting pattern.Here are some observations I have noticed during the milling process: My first attempt was obviously not a success and I'm looking to get some feedback and comments to improve the operation and get a way more precise cut. The end result in shown on the attached pictures. The plate was fixed on a wooden plate using screws throughout the operation.
I selected a profile operation with a depth increment of 1/16 in, target depth of 1/16 in, a cut feed rate of 3ipm, plunge feedrate of 1.5ipm, a spindle speed of 2400 rpm and a tool diameter of 1/16 in. To determine the feedrate and RPM used in CamBam, I used a formula found on this forum. I applied a few drops of water-based cutting fluid on my plate just prior to contact. It has a Mill Diameter of 1/16 in, a Shank Diameter of 1/8 in, a Length of Cut of 1/8 in with an Overall Length of 1-1/2. My end mill is made of Carbide, 2 Flute 42° Helix with a TiN Coating.
![where cambam keeps its trial information where cambam keeps its trial information](https://www.topfinancialtools.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Moneyspire-Review.png)
I did my initial design in SolidWorks, saved as a DXF, imported the file in CamBam where I tried, with my very limited knowledge, to setup the proper parameters to achieve a nice milling operation, saved everything as a gcode and sent it to Mach3. I am not sure which type of aluminium it is, but it is certainly fairly soft. I am trying to cut a 0.56 in (14.3 mm) by 0.52 in (13.3 mm) rectangular profile through a 1/20 in (1.27 mm) aluminium plate. I have no experience with CNC milling or any other machining operations. I just bought a small three-axis Chinese CNC machine, the 3040Z-DQ.