milling aluminum - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

odenflagship · 07-04-2010, 09:21 PM

I am interested in milling an iphone case. Would the torchmate 2x2 be appropriate for this application? I would like to use brass, aluminum, and wood.

GMFAB · 07-04-2010, 09:42 PM

I think that you should use a mill for that, the 2x2 would be good for signs . In my opinion.

odenflagship · 07-04-2010, 10:09 PM

the website for torchmate says you can use it for milling and it's much cheaper than the mills i've seen which run like 10k. It says you can add the z axis but I'm not sure if anyone has any experience with it. does anyone have any mill suggestions?

from the torchmate website:
it is designed to bring CNC Plasma Cutting, CNC Routing, CNC Drilling, CNC Milling and CNC Engraving to you in one tight little package starting at less than $2,000.

HardcorewannabeXJ · 07-06-2010, 09:03 AM

The 2x2 can do light aluminum work, it's all about keeping the bit cool. It's a 3 axis cnc mill and if you can design and program 3d work, I don't see any reason why not. Keep in mind if you plan on doing production work to make 10,000 iPhone cases, the 2x2 was not designed to do that, $10k + cnc mills are.

Metalhead781 · 07-09-2010, 08:07 PM

I'm using my torchmate 2x2 as a router only. It's doing some great work in 3d just with the z axis ratio you have to keep your speeds down. I try to keep my cutting feed to about 10 ipm on the z axis because it just doesn't have much down force. This is in wood and plastics. I actually lost a few steps today on a long project. Over 100 deg in the shop on an hr and a half run, not thinking to add a little extra oil on the axis it probably lost 1/32 of an inch. Wasn't an issue with the type of project. I'm going to be trying my hand at milling brass for some trigger guards on my rifle stocks when i get back to them. It's going to be a while, maybe three months or more. I would say for both brass or aluminum, some sort of sprayer for coolant would be a good idea.

07-04-2010, 09:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
odenflagship Registered User Join Date: Jul 2010 Member # 163562 Posts: 2	milling aluminum I am interested in milling an iphone case. Would the torchmate 2x2 be appropriate for this application? I would like to use brass, aluminum, and wood.

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07-04-2010, 09:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
GMFAB Newbie Join Date: Jan 2010 Member # 151947 Location: Forest Falls, Ca. Posts: 88	I think that you should use a mill for that, the 2x2 would be good for signs . In my opinion.

07-04-2010, 10:09 PM	#3 (permalink)
odenflagship Registered User Join Date: Jul 2010 Member # 163562 Posts: 2	the website for torchmate says you can use it for milling and it's much cheaper than the mills i've seen which run like 10k. It says you can add the z axis but I'm not sure if anyone has any experience with it. does anyone have any mill suggestions? from the torchmate website: it is designed to bring CNC Plasma Cutting, CNC Routing, CNC Drilling, CNC Milling and CNC Engraving to you in one tight little package starting at less than $2,000.

07-06-2010, 09:03 AM	#4 (permalink)
HardcorewannabeXJ Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Member # 84593 Location: Reno, NV Posts: 3,004	The 2x2 can do light aluminum work, it's all about keeping the bit cool. It's a 3 axis cnc mill and if you can design and program 3d work, I don't see any reason why not. Keep in mind if you plan on doing production work to make 10,000 iPhone cases, the 2x2 was not designed to do that, $10k + cnc mills are.

07-09-2010, 08:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
Metalhead781 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2010 Member # 162029 Location: Central New York...The state not the friggin city Posts: 13	I'm using my torchmate 2x2 as a router only. It's doing some great work in 3d just with the z axis ratio you have to keep your speeds down. I try to keep my cutting feed to about 10 ipm on the z axis because it just doesn't have much down force. This is in wood and plastics. I actually lost a few steps today on a long project. Over 100 deg in the shop on an hr and a half run, not thinking to add a little extra oil on the axis it probably lost 1/32 of an inch. Wasn't an issue with the type of project. I'm going to be trying my hand at milling brass for some trigger guards on my rifle stocks when i get back to them. It's going to be a while, maybe three months or more. I would say for both brass or aluminum, some sort of sprayer for coolant would be a good idea.