July 2, 2012

Machining a nice piece of 6013 plate aluminum. This is the piece that’s going to get the dozens of nearly microscopic grooves cut in to it with the nearly microscopic end mill, and other slightly less microscopic ones as well. 6013 aluminum was chosen because of its high strength, hardness, and superior machinability, which is important when you’re making such tiny features. I’d opt to make everything out of 6013, except it’s about double the price of 6061, and isn’t absolutely required in most cases.  Cut from a Solidworks file on the CNC mill. So far we managed to NOT break the smallest milling cutters. Stay tuned for photos of the ridiculously tiny grooves.