I bought some aluminum plate for a project that I need to keep as close to 1/4” as possible, however I’m unintelligent and purchased 1/4” aluminum plate stock instead of oversizing.
This stock, like most, is not perfectly straight.
Does anyone have any ideas re: how to flatten this plate so I can remove as little material possible when running it in the CNC?
Worst case scenario I can lose up to 1/8” and replace it with neoprene, but I’d REALLY like not to.
What cnc are you planning to run it on? Also did you mic it? Most plate stock like that is probably at least +.008 over thick unless it’s Mic6.
The tormach.
Total part size is 12” diameter so it will need to be two setups.
Unfortunately this plate appears to be under actually, at .245
Assuming that’s 6061, on a part that big and thin there’s not really any good options aside from fly cutting it flat on both sides if you want any kind of precision to it. Depending on what your making, having it laser cut might be a better choice.
Beds for 3D printers are also aluminum of similar thickness. The best choice is cast aluminum surface plate. There are residual stresses in extruded metal which will cause the sheet to warp if you remove 1/8" – google “aluminum sheet warping.”
