Machining Aerogel

[Majorana]

TL;DR

I need to machine the "frozen smoke" stuff!

Good day folks,

I would like to know if anybody out there has any practical, hands-on experience with machining Aerogel (I do mean the "classic", frozen-smoke-appearance Aerogel, not the heavy mat-looking stuff used by construction workers for thermal insulation in buildings). I need to know whether a bar of Aerogel can be lathe turned and milled, provided that the operator uses appropriate strenght when tightening the spindle, rotational speeds etc. The stuff in itself is described as not particularly fragile or brittle (whereas in articles from 2006 it was said that Aerogel would break like glass if dropped, but the stuff might have been improved since then), and able to withstand considerable compression loads. Practical knowledge is essential here, but the stuff is quite exotic and it's very difficult to find somebody that actually machined it!
Thank you SO much!

 

[renormalize]

I need to know whether a bar of Aerogel can be lathe turned and milled, provided that the operator uses appropriate strenght when tightening the spindle, rotational speeds etc.

Did you do any online searching before posting your question? The first link that comes up for me on Google for the search query "machine aerogel" is https://www.aerogeltechnologies.com/airloy/machining-guidelines/:

 

[Majorana]

Did you do any online searching before posting your question? The first link that comes up for me on Google for the search query "machine aerogel" is https://www.aerogeltechnologies.com/airloy/machining-guidelines/:
View attachment 368136

Hello, I certainly searched (even with Google, that I normally avoid) but I used "lathe" as a search term (since it's the machine that we are 100% sure to have to use), and it did not return any page in the "aerogeltechnologies.com" domain. Anyway, the milling suggestions indicated on that page are referred to the "mat type" Aerogels that I specified are NOT the stuff we are working on. If one has to machine the "frozen smoke" Aerogel, the page says to contact the company, no other advice given there... Thank you anyway for highlighting that website, for sure I will add it to my aerogel bookmarks! :0)

 

[berkeman]

the page says to contact the company

Have you tried that yet? Do they have some kind of Support link on their web page?

 

[Majorana]

Have you tried that yet? Do they have some kind of Support link on their web page?

Not yet, here in Italy it was quite bedtime when I saw the email notification of the reply. I will probably write today, but before that I wish to talk to our machinist to better define the questions... after all, he's "the man in charge"