What Is CNC Aluminum Prototyping
Aluminum is one of the ideal materials for CNC Aluminum Prototyping. It provide the the capability in house. A lot of
time can be saved making an aluminum mold compared to making a mold from
hardened steel. Aluminum can also be used for carbon fiber or thermal forming
molds, as opposed to the costly process of building an injection mold.
It’s important to evaluate the best type of
aluminum for the job. What types of aluminum are used for prototyping? The most
widely used grade of aluminum for prototype or production is 6061. 6061
aluminum is an ideal material to fabricate with. It can be forged or extruded,
has a high strength-to-weight ratio, is widely available commercially and is
reasonably priced. For these reasons, many industries prefer using 6061
aluminum for a wide variety of applications. If your prototype requires
aluminum that is structurally stiffer and harder, 7075 aluminum might be
necessary. 7075 is lightweight, on par with 6061.
Besides being easy to work with when
machining or welding, 6061 aluminum is an ideal material to fabricate with. It
can be forged or extruded, has a high strength-to-weight ratio, is widely
available commercially and is reasonably priced. For these reasons, many
industries prefer using 6061 aluminum for a wide variety of applications.
If your prototype requires aluminum that is
structurally stiffer and harder, stepping up to 7075 aluminum might be
necessary. Not surprisingly, this stronger aluminum is preferred for
manufacturing firearms and aerospace components. This is also because, despite
its added strength, 7075 is still lightweight, on par with 6061. Although there
are many different aluminum series are available, the overall preference for
CNC machining is 6061.
In order to appreciate the process of CNC
aluminum prototyping, it’s helpful to walk through the procedure in a
step-by-step format. Let’s start from the initial CAD/CAM process and work
towards the finished part. Here are our top tips:
Step 1) Design your parts for
manufacturability
Step 2) Determine which grade of aluminum
you are going to use
Step 3) Choose your cutting tools
Step 4) Determine the feed and speeds for
the job
Step 5) Consider using uncoated instead of
coated tools
Step 6) Watch out for inherent stresses
within the material
There are several benefits of choosing to
CNC aluminum prototyping in-house. It typically saves time and costs. To start,
you introduce the ability to rework a part on short notice; in fact, you may be
able to avoid making a whole new part entirely. If you want to make CNC
aluminum prototyping, you could simply register off a feature using the machine
probe, update your tool paths to the newest model, and resolve the request
in-house, at a moment’s notice. You might avoid creating a new part entirely
since aluminum is so easy to rework.
We hope this article provides you with the
information you need to make Aluminum Prototypes. If you have any additional
questions you are welcome to contact us.
When you’re making small or complicated parts, you need speed and precision at every stage. TEAM Rapid provides Aluminum Rapid Prototyping Services. We will not only invent a faster more precise CNC machine. We re-interpret and optimized your whole machining workflow from start to finish. For more information, contact us at [email protected] .
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