I am on my 5th 80% build and thoroughly enjoy the aspects of this approach however, the kerf (aluminum shavings) present a real challenge. The first two I milled out were with a full size router with no speed control and the mess left behind is a PITA. Spent more time with my shop vac cleaning up then it took to complete the lower. The next one I used a Bridgeport at work (no brainer on this approach). The next to last one was on a high end drill press using an x/y slide vise, which was OK but still needed to take a final pass with router still no speed control. So those of you with 80% experience please share your thoughts and best practices, and those of you who are using a router at medium speed how are you managing or what is the aluminum shaving situation like?
I was thinking of converting a Harbor Freight sandblast cabinet over to use with the vise and router to capture the mess.

i attach my shop vac to my modulus jig and suck the shavings out while I'm using the router. It gets 98% of the shavings. The 2% that escape are quite easy to clean up. Idk if the dust deputy I run inline to the shop vac helps but I don't really get any shavings in my shop vac itself, they all get deposited into the 5 gallon bucket hooked up to the dust deputy.

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That is the way I do it too. I just use a piece of 1" copper tubing & pipe hanger

Excellent and much appreciated. Are you running your router at medium speed??

very nice!

That's definitely the churched up version of what I do.  You. Can see my version in the Modulus HD jig review thread I made, it's also linked off of Modulus' HD jig sale page on their website.  I just use my crevice attachment to my 2.5" hose, some tape, a bungee cord, and something to prop it up to stay level with the hole in the side.

Added bonus is all that moving air helps cool the lower/endmill some too.

OP as far as speed goes. The number settings aren't the same RPMS across all brands of routers. The RPM range is more important than the setting number. On my Bosch I don't pay much attention to the setting. I just go off of how it sounds, how it looks, and how the end mill is cutting.

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I use a Ridgid R24012 with the speed set on 3.5. The speed control runs from 1 to 7 on this router, so I am basically running it right in the middle.

I use a Makita RT0701C and I run it just a little below the middle point of the speed adjustment.  I arrived at that setting based on feel and sound.  Your milage may vary.  Just find a spot where there is no chattering and it is cutting smoothly.

I have a jig for my shop vac set up on my mill and it gets 99% of the chips and I never see them.

My router.


My speed controller.


I use my shop vac as well. IIRC, I wedged the crevice tool in the jig.

Compressed air via line loc from the right, vacuum via line loc out the left.  

Older pic, but you'll get the idea.

Mine looks very similar to this set up and it works quite well.

What kind of mill is that and how much is it?

It looks like a LMS HiTorque 5500

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=5500&category=1387807683

I have a G0704, I prefer it (costs about the same), heavier, has larger range, and extensive mods. The Z axis travel of 11" and spindle to table height of 13" can be increased by 6 inches just by flipping the Z axis saddle... easy mod that gives you a LOT of headroom.
Have added a DRO since...



As for chips I just let the collect and vacuum them up later. I need to keep the table and its surrounding clear because that makes cleanup a lot easier. I need some magnetic tool holder to keep the most needed tool somewhere easy to reach but not cluttering the table.

Little Machine Shop 3900  the G704 is 45% more $.  For my needs honestly, I'd rather have the G704, but for man the size and money difference is far too much.  

not nearly as fancy as some of those mills, but i had a good bit of success with the rigid trim router (on 4) and a shop vac attachment bungeed to my 6 inch vise. stopping to clean out the shavings was the most time consuming part, but it's the best way to ensure a clean milling job.

the speed drill kit did speed up the process, but i somehow managed to break my bit half way through.

next lower i will try just one hole and milling the whole thing out - several have had success with this method.

i also learned (from this board) not to drill to the last mark on the depth gauge, but the one before last. on my first lower, i had dimples from the tip of the drill bit at each hole location. on my second one i did it one mark before the last, so that the last pass with the mill bit left a clean, uniform look.

Trying to worry about chips while cutting slows progress, and is a distraction.  You just need them out of the way so you're not recutting and causing cutter deflection. Compressed air or coolant is far better than a vacuum for this.   I use air most of the time, don't worry about where they go, as I have my ways fully covered. I deal with clean up when I'm done for the day or done with the project.  In the midst of it, there are chips everywhere