Showerthought: chasing max SFM on aluminum is how you eat a spindle

Last Tuesday I watched a guy at the shop in Garland run a 1/2 inch carbide 3 flute end mill at 18,000 RPM on 6061 because some chart said faster is better. Ten minutes in, the holder started screaming and he lost the tool, the part, and a $4,200 spindle cartridge. Aluminum moves heat into the chip, so feed per tooth is what carries it away, not raw RPM. Run your chip load up and back the speed down before you cook a bearing. What feeds and speeds are you all running on 6061 with a 1/2 inch 3 flute?

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