Someone had posted a question about engraving aluminum on the Shapeoko, and that got me thinking (yes, always a dangerous thing).
If I were to mill aluminum on the Shapeoko (or anywhere else, for that matter) I would use at least a small amount of cutting oil. Given that most of our Shapeoko use is for wood, it wasn’t obvious to me that oil in the Shapeoko would be a good idea.
That got me thinking about the Emco as a viable alternative. I have never experimented with the Emco, and I don’t even know what work path to use to create or feed it g-code. That raised even more questions.
I’d be interested in everyone’s thoughts about which machine would be a better choice for milling or engraving aluminum.
Also - @steve_a - I know you did a lot of work to get the Emco running. I would consider you to be (at least one of) the resident expert(s). Any thoughts on any Emco classes? Or maybe even just some small group instruction - I saw several other people posted questions about using the Emco.
Actually, in a strictly engraving/etching operation, no oil would really be necessary. however, cutting pockets and thru shapes probably should if it has any real depth.
OK, so that brings me back to one of my first questions. Should we all assume that no one should use cutting oil in the Shapeoko? @jphelps - want to weigh in on this?
P.S. I updated the tool status board to show the Emco as Out of Service (Fire Marshall). There isn’t a suitable category on the Tool status board to show that a tool doesn’t exist anymore, so this was as close as I could get.
well with dry components (wood, plastics) it easily vacuums up. The use of oil makes a slurry which is going to stick to everything inside the cabinet. My vote would be not to do so. it’s one of the same reasons the woodshop committee doesn’t allow metals (although the machine should be able to handle it). It contaminates the table, tool, and dust collection.
Cutting oil is only used when cutting most metals. The only three metals I can see being cut on the Shapeko would be aluminum, brass, and copper. You generally don’t use cutting fluid on brass. Copper cuts badly, but I would see the shapeko being used for etching type work, so very small, light cuts. Shouldn’t be a problem dry, just a bit of additional wear on the tooling. Same goes for aluminum.
I would suggest that the shapeko be limited to milling relatively thin sheets (say <= 1/8") of aluminum, brass, and copper. And NO other metals.
I would agree with that, hence the reason I asked the question. I just made a command decision. I will post a label on the Shapeoko prohibiting the use of oil. Not everyone reads Talk.
Because @steve_a has had it usable for close to a year, and he was the only one using it… We have the HAAS, we have the shapeko, and we have the MultiCAM (and soon the PCB mill). So three different machines all with capability that overlapped the EMCO.
I’ve been hoping for some kind of training classes. Without that, nobody else was ever going to use it. And for making small things out of metal, none of those three other tools is suitable. “Overlapping” is an overstatement.
As the proud owner of both their mill and their lathe, I can understand your lust… But while they are extremely well made, I think the space would trash them in very short order…
We CA “saved” the non-working at the time Shapeoko from an on-going purge, it was mainly being sought for use in doing wood and linoleum for the Letterpress.
I agree, wood, plastics, the Al, Cu, and Brass - for engraving, and that’s about it. NO CARBON FIBER materials, there is no HEPA air filter on this device plus CF eats tools. Absolutely no cutting fluids, it needs to always be kept dry. A PCB could easily be cut on it if the one in Electronics isn’t available.
I’m sure people will complain that training is required for each machine- it’s not about the coding or operation as it is to what materials, cutters, etc, usage rules are permitted with that committee’s tools. That’s why there are multiples around the Space, they each are being used for specific purposes and materials.
Yes, but a thicker part translates to someone trying to mill too deep for a milling cutter that doesn’t have cutting fluid to assist with chip removal.
