Need Help Help milling alupanel

[Flatbed Tools]

Pardon if I say it, but I find it odd reading that anyone has a problem with routing ACM.
We use standard 2-flute cheap chinese 1/8" upcut end mills, and have for the last 14 years.
Our router is ancient, so we nurture it a bit, but 35mm/sec at full depth, single-pass, I can't recall having a problem. Just adjust spindle rpm as required.

If the top edge is looking a bit rough, get a new cutter. If you buy a pack of 10 for $5 or so, they're not an ordeal to toss out. If your edges are looking poor, maybe you got a bad batch of cutters?

I've also got expensive Onsrud cutters for high quality work, but ACM is about the easiest you'll get.
I leave the swarth in place to help hold the parts - we do not have a vacuum bed, and I tek-screw the sheet corners down to the MDF bed to secure the substrate.

This is because so many ACMs are manufactured with different substrates and different chemical make-ups (different aluminum, different cores, different cutting equipment). Also, just because you have a (cheap Chinese endmill) doesn't mean all ACM cuts perfectly with that bit or has the longevity. Maybe I missed it, but what ACM are you using?

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[Ian Stewart-Koster]

W

This is because so many ACMs are manufactured with different substrates and different chemical make-ups (different aluminum, different cores, different cutting equipment). Also, just because you have a (cheap Chinese endmill) doesn't mean all ACM cuts perfectly with that bit or has the longevity. Maybe I missed it, but what ACM are you using?

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What ACM is it?
Well, we call it Alupanel, from our supplier, Sign Sheet Distributors in Australia, or ACM from SAS, another supplier. None of it was 'cheap'. 3mm stuff with a reinforced polyethylene core, & ).2mm or 0.3mm skin each side, and sometimes 4mm stuff.

Some cutters are no good also, but for all I've cut, I've seldom had any problems in 14 years of cuting ACM here.
That's why I asked.