Found a $0 fix for chatter marks on thin aluminum parts

Last Tuesday I was running some 6061 brackets that were just 0.080 inches thick. Every pass left these nasty chatter marks no matter how I adjusted the feed. I tried different speeds, changed my stepover, even swapped to a brand new end mill. Nothing worked for about two hours. Then my old timer coworker Gene walked by and said clamp a scrap piece of MDF against the back face. I did it and the chatter went away instantly. The MDF just absorbs the vibration without adding any rigidity problems. Has anyone else tried something like this for thin wall stuff?

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angela_grant1mo ago

Well that MDF trick is older than Gene himself, not a new discovery.

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morganhill1mo ago

Yeah but that whole "MDF trick" thing is wild because I remember back in like 2006 I was trying to get a cheap DIY recording setup and someone on some old forum swore up and down that putting a moving blanket over your head and the mic was the same as a proper vocal booth. Tried it once, knocked over a lamp and almost choked on the dust. People have been hacking together "pro" sound treatments out of random stuff forever, it's basically tradition at this point.

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