First time turning Aluminum

[elyk864]

Tried my hand at turning aluminum on the wood lathe. It was surprisingly easy to turn with an old carbide tip I had. I've honestly turned some woods that were harder lol. The biggest issue was drilling it out on the lathe, the bit kept packing full. Other than that it wasn't bad.

 

[dcameraman]

Looks good!

How did you finish it? Some aluminum rubs off on your hand when you touch it.

Josh

 

[elyk864]

Looks good!

How did you finish it? Some aluminum rubs off on your hand when you touch it.

Josh

I polished it with an aluminum polish then degreased it to make sure nothing would come off. The wife has been using it now with no issues.

 

[mark james]

Looks great, nice job.

 

[Jplupercio_CSUSA]

Very nice job! Nice contraste between blank and hardware!

 

[magpens]

With aluminum you have to retract and clean the bit fairly often. . Otherwise the shards pack up.

Nice pen !!

 

[elyk864]

With aluminum you have to retract and clean the bit fairly often. . Otherwise the shards packup.

Nice pen !!

Yeah, it's really odd. The first 1/2 inch will cut beautifully with long stands coming off, then the rest just bunches up after that. I even tried going from smaller bits to larger and still had the same problem.

 

[More4dan]

The aluminum chips/ribbons are breaking as the bit goes deeper and are being pushed along the drill bit flutes. When you first start they peel off from the tip into the air in longer ribbons. Also, unlike wood they don't compress like saw dust when drilling requiring more frequent clearing. VERY NICE PEN by the way.


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[coulcd]

Kyle do you know what Aluminum alloy you used? Anyone else have a better experience with turning one alloy over another?

 

[More4dan]

A good cutting fluid will also Help. WD40 works pretty well for aluminum. Also occasionally check the tip of your drill bit for stuck aluminum. Keep the cutting edge clean by knocking off the stuck bits of aluminum. The cutting fluid will reduce this somewhat.


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[elyk864]

Kyle do you know what Aluminum alloy you used? Anyone else have a better experience with turning one alloy over another?

I was using 6061 Aluminum, I bought the first rod which was like 3 feet long at Ace Hardware for around $10. That is what I used for the pen. I ordered a thicker piece from Amazon that is about 8 inches long. I've yet to turn it though.

 

[OZturner]

Excellent Aluminium Pen Kyle.
Beautifully Turned,Superb Finish.
Congratulations,
Brian.

 

[TattooedTurner]

Love it!