Cutting aluminum and other soft metals

Cutting through metals requires strong end-mill bits as well as the need to keep the material cool. If you have ever used a drill press on a block or thick piece of metal, you will likely have made the mistake of scorching the bit (where it gets black and starts to squeal as it cuts). This is when the bit gets very hot and binds against the metal it is cutting. This can be addressed with some cutting oil or similar coolant. There are tons of videos on YouTube showing industrial CNC machines cutting into blocks to make things such as engine blocks, or you might have seen lathes milling metal as well. In both cases, you will see the workpiece being drenched in a liquid that has two purposes. First is to keep the end mill and material cool and the second is to carry away the chips, dust, and other debris away from the work area so those don’t interfere with the machining work.

For our desktop mills we have to rely on our dust shoes to collect...