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Aluminum end mill speeds and feeds
Starting SFM and chip load for carbide, cobalt and HSS end mills in 6061, with the published ranges behind them.
Carbide in aluminum runs at 800-1,500 SFM in Harvey Tool's general guidelines [1]. Travers lists 600-1,000 SFM for carbide and 200-350 SFM for HSS [2]. ChiploadPro starts carbide at 800 SFM and HSS at 250, near the low end of both.
| Diameter | Harvey carbide IPT [1] | ChiploadPro start |
|---|---|---|
| 1/8" | .001 | .0010 |
| 1/4" | .002 | .0020 |
| 1/2" | .004 | .0040 |
| 3/4" | .006 | .0055 |
Flute count
For non-ferrous work Harvey says 2 or 3 flutes are the common choice. 2 flutes give the most chip clearance, and 3 flutes have done well in finishing and high-efficiency milling [3].
Example
A 1/2" 3-flute carbide end mill at 800 SFM: 800 × 3.82 ÷ 0.5 = 6,112 RPM. At .004 in/tooth: 6,112 × 3 × .004 ≈ 73 IPM. Spindle power at 0.30 hp per in³/min [4] for a 0.25" × 0.25" cut: 0.25 × 0.25 × 73 × 0.30 ÷ 0.8 ≈ 1.7 HP.
Tooling for this job
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