[mick53]

Well I haven't failed yet because I haven't given up. It is now a quest. Here's what I know. Pulley is 6061 aluminum. Coating is type 3 anodizing .002"-.004" thick. The tool bits I'm using are not some overseas sweat shop steel they are repurposed Armstrong high speed cobalt. I think it's pretty hard stuff. The test pulley I made is 6061 aluminum. It cut it like butter. The same tool worked terribly on the first groove on the real pulley. After looking at it I thought I forgot to put a relief cut on the front of the tool. The manufacturer and the anodizing company both told me that machining the finish was no problem. After thinking about it they have probably never done it. I sanded the finish off the face for countersinking and it was a nightmare. It laughed at aircraft stripper and we get the good stuff here. I spent a lot of time making the second tool and was quite proud of it. I checked my tool height and set my RPM's. I ran it in and it Angelina Jolie'd itself and was gone in 60 seconds.
it barely scratched the surface, more like a dent. I took an insert tool and came in from the side at .005" and shaved it off. Gone baby gone. I ordered a nice grinding wheel and some HHS tool bits, probably from a sweat chop overseas. Sorry so long. Thank you for your time.