Installing Aluminum

[Marck]

Aluminium ... yucky no no no aluminium ... yucky.

[bbarry]

For what it's worth, I didn't use a speed control on my router. I cut many linear feet of my aluminum with a flush cut router bit in a router going full blast and ended up with millions of tiny shavings, but no "slagging" or melting.

Also, heed said advice about masking tape. Looking the wrong way at a piece of aluminum will scratch it.

Mineral spirits or lacquer thinner will take off any residue from the tape and oils from your hands when you are done.

Brad

[kennyrayandersen]

For what it's worth, I didn't use a speed control on my router. I cut many linear feet of my aluminum with a flush cut router bit in a router going full blast and ended up with millions of tiny shavings, but no "slagging" or melting.

Also, heed said advice about masking tape. Looking the wrong way at a piece of aluminum will scratch it.

Mineral spirits or lacquer thinner will take off any residue from the tape and oils from your hands when you are done.

Brad

The key is move at a good pace and don’t let the router bit sit in any one place very long so that it doesn’t heat up and burn the bit.

[shoeman]

Be sure to wear safety glasses! Long sleeves and pants are a good idea too.

[kennyrayandersen]

Be sure to wear safety glasses! Long sleeves and pants are a good idea too.

I'm with you on the glasses (and even a face shield when necessary), and long pants are a good bet, but I'm wondering about the long sleeves? I was always taught that long sleeves can get caught up in moving machinery -- especially the rotating kind; so, if you do wear long sleeves (which I would if I was welding or using a cutting torch only) make sure that they fit snug around your wrist and that nothing if flapping outward, like a cuff for instance.

Personally, I wouldn't waer long sleeves; I'd rather take a wee bit a shrapnel to the arm rather than have it get sucked into something -- especially a milling machine or a lathe. At 25,000 rpm a router doesn't sound like that much fun to get sucked into either. Am I missing something here? I'm worked in both a machine shop (though not in a production setting) and spent many years wood working and I've never had anything happen to exposed arms (maybe I"m just lucky).

Other opinions?

[aggie79]

Another question for the experts. My aluminum has a protective film. I had intended on leaving that in place when cutting or routing. Will that plastic gum up the router bit?

[madjack]

I would say there is a possibility...I would mark it, cut it and peel it back just enough to not interfere with your cut...
madjack

[kennyrayandersen]

Another question for the experts. My aluminum has a protective film. I had intended on leaving that in place when cutting or routing. Will that plastic gum up the router bit?

That's a god question -- you could always try it on an edge that's going to get trimmed anyway. It sure would save a lot of refinish work if you could manage to leave it on until the last minute.

[tom koehler]

Back in the early '70's I worked in a small lumberyard, building wood-framed pickup truck toppers. We sheathed the toppers in aluminum. We used an air stapler to tack the aluminum in place, then trimmed it with a router, for the outer profile and the window openings. The final act, after all the skin was in place was to secure the sheet metal with edge molding. A caulking tape was laid down first, then the molding was fastened down with screws every few inches - the holes were pre-punched in the molding, so that was our default spacing. The excess caulk would squeeze out, and we'd trim it off.

Fast forward to the present, and I no longer work at that lumberyard. I built my own TD and the aluminum skin I got in Duluth was seriously heavy stuff, 19 gage, or .0437" thick. I had to punch a small hole through the metal first, and then drive a small brad to tack the sheet metal in place. I spaced the brads about 5" apart, all the way around the sheet metal. I'd tried cutting the sheet metal with a router, as I'd done so many years ago, with the thinner sheet metal usually used on campers and toppers. Nope, nada, bupkis. This thick stuff would only yield to a snips, pre-cutting the needed shape before tacking in place. I have some good ones, that made short work of this job - with a couple of adult beverages from time to time.

Once all the sheet metal was in place, I used edge molding and caulk, as I did 35 years ago. This edge molding is annealed really soft, and so bends very easily. Still, you have to be very careful as you bend it around the curves, so you do not kink it. As the face of the molding tends to bulge outward as it is bent, a little careful tapping with a block of wood, a light touch, and a modest hammer will restore the molding's shape nicely around the curves. Make sure your block of wood is an inch longer than the width of your hand. Don't ask. It was an old lesson, from a long time ago.
tom koehler

[chorizon]

I would say there is a possibility...I would mark it, cut it and peel it back just enough to not interfere with your cut...
madjack

What he said.

[LMarsh]

Here is another thread related to using a router with aluminum :

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... r+aluminum

I will be trying this in the next few days so I'll update my experience.

Lucas