Machining 6061 aluminum

[rwild]

Looking for some ideas on how to machine 6061 aluminum from .016 thick sheet down to .006. Suggestions on cutters, holding the material, any ideas at all. Thanks

 

[looslib]

Are you cutting the whole surface or cutting pockets with a floor of .006?
How big is the piece that you are going to cut?


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[rwild]

We are cutting the entire surface. 6 inches wide by 48 inches long.

 

[Compositepro]

Why would you not buy 0.006" foil?

 

[BrianE22]

I assume there is not much tolerance on the .006" final dimension. I don't think you'll get there with milling. You'd have to get the part straight first then probably use a vacuum chuck to hold it.

I'd talk to a grinding shop. Double Disk Grinding might get you there - it's great at getting the opposite sides parallel but won't get you a straight part. Lapping can get you parallism and straightness.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Buy it at .006 or maybe some kind of lapping??

 

[BillPSU]

Milling something that thin will cause tremendous flatness problem after milling. Buy the foil.

 

[metman]

Use double sided adhesive tape.