Coors AD 96 (Alumina) manufacturing?

[blacklabelunion]

I just had a project dropped in my lap and I've never worked with this type of material before. The material is Coors AD 96 Alumina. 2.50'' diameter approximately 1.16'' thick. I need to put a series of holes, counterbores and .125'' x .19 slots at .17'' deep. Can I machine this with conventional CNC mills and carbide endmills or will I need special tooling or another process all together. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Timelord]

blacklabelunion,

This material is a ceramic that is 96% aluminum oxide. As far as I know you cannot machine this material with conventional tools. Grinding with diamond tools is the preferred method of fabrication.

Timelord

 

[unclesyd]

I think you should take a look at this site. It uses ultrasonic machining to cut through the hardest materials.

http://www.sonicmill.com/

 

[tripleZ]

Call the folks at Coors and ask them.

http://www.coorstek.com

Although I'll agree that conventional machining practices will not work. I use what you'd call "skid plates" made from similar material as sintering fixtures for parts. The stuff is extremely hard, wear resistant, and also brittle. So you'll likely want to watch out for vibrations if you decide to try and machine the round with diamond coated/plated/bonded tooling.

 

[blacklabelunion]

I appreciate all of your help.

 

[tomwalz]

Typically with hard materials, tungsten carbide and harder, we start by asking the supplier how close they can come to the finished shape. Most suppliers have thousands to tens of thousands of dies and also have custom fabrication shops.

If you do want to machine it yourself I would suggest using a whisker reinforced alumina as it is much tougher.

You might also look for a custom shop that does this sort of thing all the time.

Tom


Thomas J. Walz
Carbide Processors, Inc.

http://www.carbideprocessors.com

 

[jck26]

Why fabricate this yourself? If this is a special part why not go to an expert. Visit this web site:

http://www.insaco.com

(Quakertown, PA)

They are in the business of hard material machining(ceramic/glass/quartz)only. They can also look at your application to see that you are using the best material.

I have toured this plant and it has some amazing machines but only a few are what a typical shop has. So you might not be equiped to handle this type of machining.