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cutting aluminum question
Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 3:07 pmby nikwax
I want to cut some aluminum angle pieces and get a good clean 45 degree corner, I thought I'd try my chop saw. I was at the local industrial hardware store yesterday, my choices were a $89 non-ferrous blade or a $6 abrasive wheel design for non-ferrous cuts on a chop saw. I wasn't feeling $89 worth of commitment so i opted for the abrasive wheel. I tried a test cut today, and it was amusing...the piece got so hot that it melted the plastic bits on the chop saw table, and the cut was real ragged. I'll bet you experienced folks are laughing at this ;-) and I'm glad that there wasn't any real damage.
So, what are my options here? I have a bandsaw, but that is awkward to feed long pieces through. Tablesaw is out. Jigsaw cuts well but it's hard to do miters.
Suggestions?
Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 3:39 pmby doug hodder
Get an inexpensive carbide blade for your chop saw. Home Depot has them. Don't crowd the cut, And wear goggles. Doug
Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 4:09 pmby Wimperdink
doug hodder wrote: And wear goggles. Doug
Yep yep yep and yep.
I took a piece of aluminum to the stomach and hurt for a month cause of crowding the cut on a table saw. Aluminum bits seem to hurt a lot in the eyes too.
I don't wear a lot of safety gear (shame on me) But I do wear gloves and goggles when cutting aluminum.
Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 4:16 pmby planovet
From a previous post (all credit to original poster)...
halfdome, Danny wrote:If you have a chop saw or a miter box do your corners with miters and round the outside corners for safety. A carbide chop saw blade with 60 or more teeth will cut it nice and clean. I place the "T" molding face up on a 3/4" x 1 1/2" x 24" piece of scrap for the cut otherwise the aluminum will flip over or catch violently and could injure you. Trimming off small pieces on a chop saw can hurtle the scrap at a high speed so wear a face shield and don't allow bystanders. 
Danny
Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 4:25 pmby Dean_A
I've cut a ton of trim on mine and the carbide blade works fine, as mentioned. ABSOLUTELY wear goggles, and take it slow. I've had the best luck putting a piece of lumber under the aluminum. I also clamp the long pieces down as well as I can, though it's not really necessary. Short pieces will definitely turn into missiles, so watch out.
Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 4:43 pmby CrocTears
I mitered edges in aluminum for a frame by using a jigsaw and a custom made jig. The jig had a groove in it (cut on the router) to hold the aluminum firmly in place, and it had a top rail to put the saw against as a guide. Clamp in the aluminum and cut with a good metal jigsaw blade. It worked really well for a simple homebuilt thing-a-ma-jig.
Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 4:46 pmby nikwax
so you're saying any fine tooth (60 or above) carbide blade would work? And why carbide and not plain old HSS?
I wear a face shield when I'm concerned about projectiles :-0
Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 6:48 pmby madjack
nikwax wrote:so you're saying any fine tooth (60 or above) carbide blade would work?
YES, absolutely but a fine toothed blade is not necessary, just any carbide toothed blade
And why carbide and not plain old HSS?
because it will not cut as quick or easily and the resultant extra heat will pull the temper and then the set out of the teeth...
I wear a face shield when I'm concerned about projectiles :-0
Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:04 pmby alffink
I used a metal cutting blade for my table saw to cut the strips from the aluminum sheet for the trim pieces around the door and hatch, the blade has a chamfered chipper every other to to help prevent the blade from grabing the thin material
Very important saftey note; be sure to use a zero clearance plate at the blade and a flush face for your fence. Thin sheet has a way of finding ways to get away from you. As most everyone has said, just take it slow, let the blade do the work.
But, for the miter-cuts I just used a cheap plastic miter box and replaced the backsaw with a hacksaw, found it to be faster and cleaner than trying to miter the angle and "T" stock
Posted:
Wed Oct 01, 2008 10:57 pmby alloffroad
Friction blades are dangerous to use with non-farrous metals. The material clogs up the pits on the blade preventing it from cutting then as it heats up the metal will expand and can cause a catastraphic (
) failure in the blade. I have seen pieces of blade shot though garage doors after a newbee was cutting aluminum with a gas powered saw with a friction blade.
Posted:
Thu Oct 02, 2008 1:59 amby asianflava
When I got to the point where I was doing the trim, I was in a "I have to finish no matter what" mentality. I didn't want to experiment or find alternative methods. I just went down to Harbor Freight and bought a horizontal metal cutting bandsaw.
I had a coupon so it gave me an excuse to buy it. When I got there, it happened to be on sale. In the end it cost me about $150. I messed with it for about a day before learned it's quirks and got it cutting well, when I got it setup correctly, doing the trim went pretty quickly.