🔍 Start conservative and adjust from there. A general ballpark for a **1/4\" single-flute** carbide in 6061 aluminum on a hobby CNC: maybe ~15,000 RPM and ~40 inches per minute feed, at a depth per pass of 0.5mm (0.020\"). See how that goes – if chips are coming off nicely and the machine isn’t straining, you can try upping the feed or depth a bit. Keep an ear out: a smooth cutting sound is good, screeching or chattering is bad (back off if you hear that). Always ensure good chip clearing – pause to vacuum if needed. For a **1/8\" bit**, you might go somewhat slower feed (maybe 20-30 ipm) and shallower (0.010\" per pass). Because routers have high RPM, often the challenge is feeding fast enough – don’t be afraid to feed faster as long as quality holds, it actually helps prevent heat. SpeTool doesn’t publish a full aluminum feed/speed chart, but they do emphasize using the right bits (O-flutes) and maintaining chip load:contentReference[oaicite:83]{index=83}. So it might take a couple test cuts to dial in, but once you find the sweet spot, SpeTool bits will throw razor sharp aluminum chips. Finally, if your machine is more robust, you can push harder; if it’s smaller or less rigid, stay lighter. It’s a bit of an art, but those starting points should help avoid the extremes of too slow (melting) or too fast (bit damage).

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