Metal
Approved
Aluminum 6061
Machinable non-ferrous alloy that creates heat, sharp swarf, hot chips, and combustible fine particulate.
Never do this
- If grinding, sanding or another abrasive operation produces fine dry aluminium fines, never send them into a shared wood-dust extractor unless that collection system has been specifically evaluated for combustible metal dust. Ordinary mill and saw chips are not the same thing as fines.
- Never use compressed air to disperse accumulated aluminium fines or dust for cleanup.
Hazards
Flying Debris / Ejected Material
Dust / Airborne Particulate
Fire / Ignition
Hot Surface / Hot Material
Cutting / Sharp Edge / Blade
Controls in place
Cutting fluid stops the tool loading and the swarf welding to the cutter. It is not strictly necessary - conservative speeds and feeds cut aluminium dry - but it is what makes a normal-speed cut behave. Tooling rated for non-ferrous metal.
Source capture at the machine for chips. Dedicated collection if fine dry fines are ever generated by grinding or sanding.
Not permitted on
CO₂ laser cutter
Good to know
Non-ferrous, so it does not throw sparks the way steel does — but it loads and clogs abrasive belts and wheels, which is its own failure mode rather than an absence of one. Swarf and freshly cut edges are sharp and hot at once.
Handling and machining are separate moments: gloves belong on while you carry, place or deburr the stock, and come off before the machine runs — once it is running the machine is handling the material, and a glove near it is a catch hazard.
Cutting fluid stops the tool loading and the swarf welding to the cutter. It is not strictly necessary, since conservative speeds and feeds cut aluminium dry, but it is what makes a normal-speed cut behave. Fine aluminium particulate is combustible, and dry grinding is what puts it into the air.
Documents
Document
Type
Status