Milling aluminium?

[oldschoolace]

Bit of a nieche question but what is the general consensus to using a dillar drill for a bit of aluminium milling?

I have an old pillar drill that i can afford to potentially wear the bearings out on, some aluminium and a 2 axis cross travel vice. Can easily get some end mill bits and cutting fluid.
Fancy having a little play at making a few things 
I am aware the tapered chuck could work loose but its only ali so should be ok...... shouldn't i? 

[HUTCHMAN]

bearings aside,i would say the only thing to consider is being able to lock the spindle in place(no up and down movement) so once the cutter bites it doesn't pull itself into the material(hope that makes sense).

[oldschoolace]

Gotcha 

The pillar drill has a threaded stop guage with two locking nuts so not a problem 

[GavinDavis]

Im sure it would work out ok on a light cut if you could lock the head at the height you need.  How do you plan to traverse the job underneath the mill bit though?  If youve got a sliding/winding adjustable vice then you could clamp it to the drill table and move it around in any direction

[oldschoolace]

Yep got a 2 axis sliding vice 
wondering what sort of depth of cut i should be looking at with each pass. 1 - 2mm? 

[HUTCHMAN]

and make sure the table is square to the spindle!!

[GavinDavis]

Yep got a 2 axis sliding vice 
wondering what sort of depth of cut i should be looking at with each pass. 1 - 2mm? 

Ah nice!!  That should work out good then I would say with a bit of care.  Yeah I wouldnt got any deeper than 1 - 2mm to be honest, you might find the drill will chatter and try and move quite a bit.  Speed is gonna play an important factor in your cutting too....If you can move the belt around on the inside of the drill to give you a faster speed I'd do it....Youll get a better finish too  

Get some pics up when youre done.....and remember....if anything starts to move or it snags etc, get your ass out the way!!  Dont try and save it.

[oldschoolace]

  yeah been there and done that with a few bits of oak 

Any ideas on rpm? i always though a relatively lower speed was better for milling and drilling 

[HUTCHMAN]

aluminium.....from memory about 2500...please correct me if my memory is proving to be cack!!

[oldschoolace]

Nice one  may end up trying a few speeds, got plenty of material to go at.

If you liked the skyway rims this next bit of home brew should raise a few eyebrows 

[HUTCHMAN]

thought about going this route with my piller drill...till the motor went bang( with one hell of a bright/white flash)

[oldschoolace]

Yeah i have read in a few places that its a bit of a no no using a pillar drill as it fooks the bearings and if the chuck comes out at speed you are in for nasty shock 
All good fun and should be alreet with ali

[rooski]

If you get vibration the chuck WILL come out,,milling cutters are brittle and can shatter,ally is soft and can grab,do NOT climb mill

[GavinDavis]

Jeeeeeez yeah....dont be climb milling!!!!  That's pretty much be instant BOOOOM lol.  And really make sure you ram that chuck upwards as hard as you can.....Like you've never rammed before!!

Im really looking forward to seeing this mystery part...... 

But yeah....around about 2500 rpm should do it, and go SLOW lol....and wear kevlar