Question on cutting 3/32 diamond plate for the Pod..

[vinoscooter]

The Pod is comming right along..a friend w/camera should be by this weekend to take pic's...I scored some 3/32... diamond plate for trim & a front guard piece..Could this be cut useing a table saw if the blade is reversed ?..We used this method to cut metal sideing one time W/ a skill saw...Its alluminum plate..have no excess to a band saw..Have a cheap jig saw though..The pod is looking great, allthough it doesnt look like the camp pod plans anymore...Much better than I expected for a 1st build ..I have an 80 tooth plywood blade I haven't used, it's a little thiner than the rip blade..The diamond plate is 10 ft long by 1 foot wide...Hate to start cutting this great looking plate as an experiment...!Pic's comming soon...

[doug hodder]

I've cut lots of 1/8" material using a circular saw, not reversing the blade. We fabricated custom fire fighting truck bodies, in a small shop. I also used a can of cutting fluid or at least WD40. Use a fence, you probably won't be able to hold a straight line, also a face shield. Don't crowd it. I haven't done any 3/16 however. I have done smaller pieces of diamond plate on the table saw, but haven't ripped anything large. I would think that you would want the blade higher so that the angle of attack on the material forces the material down onto the table not back at you. If all else fails, find a local guy with an air shear or a plasma cutter , bribe him with a case of beer or some $$. Doug Hodder PS use carbide blades HSS won't work that well...

[doug hodder]

I thought that 3/16 was a little beefy, you should have no problem with 3/32" doug hodder

[GeorgeT]

The Pod is comming right along..a friend w/camera should be by this weekend to take pic's...I scored some 3/32... diamond plate for trim & a front guard piece..Could this be cut useing a table saw if the blade is reversed ?..We used this method to cut metal sideing one time W/ a skill saw...Its alluminum plate..have no excess to a band saw..Have a cheap jig saw though..The pod is looking great, allthough it doesnt look like the camp pod plans anymore...Much better than I expected for a 1st build ..I have an 80 tooth plywood blade I haven't used, it's a little thiner than the rip blade..The diamond plate is 10 ft long by 1 foot wide...Hate to start cutting this great looking plate as an experiment...!Pic's comming soon...

I cut a 6 foot long piece of 1/8 thick aluminum on my table saw with an 80 tooth carbide plywood blade with a 1/8 inch kerf no problem. I made two runs at it. I set the blade to cut only about half way through for the first run. Then I lifted the blade up a might and ran it through again. Ain't sayin' you should do it that way but it worked for me. Did make me a bit nervous as I had never cut anything like that before.

[nubwon]

I've cut up to 3/16" using a circular saw with no trouble at all. You may want to get a blade just for the aluminum tho, it will dull it some.

[toypusher]

I've never cut aluminum with a circular saw, but I used one to cut the steel in my HF trailer. Just put a metal cutoff blade in it. I would think that it should work ok on aluminum also.

Kerry

[Nitetimes]

Just put a metal cutoff blade in it. I would think that it should work ok on aluminum also.

Kerry

Aluminium will fill that up too fast. Most grinding/cutoff wheels don't work too well with AL, it fills all the voids in the wheel with AL then you just kind of sit on top and spin. There's a bar of something like wax that you can rub on that is supposed to keep it from loading the wheels but I never had much luck with it.

[JunkMan]

I used to work for a company that built marsh equipment, and we regularly cut 1/4 aluminum sheets with a circular saw using a carbide tipped blade. Don't remember how many teeth the blade had, but I would guess the more teeth the better.

[angib]

When cutting aluminum inserts to go in the yachts where I used to work, we used a bandsaw with a regular wood blade. You needed to be fairly gentle and have the upper blade guide down near the workpiece but it worked fine. The blade (6 tpi, 8 tpi?) lasted a surprisingly long time.

Andrew

[GregJ]

Vinoschooter,

Aluminum is pretty easy to cut. A normal carbide blade will do the job; more teeth are better in general. They make a blade just for Al that really works well, but they are a bit expensive. I have one for my table saw, cuts great.

If you can find some stick lube use that, paraffin (the wax kind) can also be used, just rub it over the line you want to cut. Otherwise a light coat of WD or other oil really helps.

The chips tend to scratch the bottom of your saw if you aren’t careful. I put a layer of good old Duct Tape on the bottom of the saw to protect it. Cut from the back if you can for the same reason.

If the edge is rough when you are done, clamp the piece to a straight edge and clean it up with a flush cut carbide router bit.

Last, If your headed to Portland anytime soon. Mark your cuts and bring the material and I can cut it on the table saw… PM me if you want this option…

[vinoscooter]

We cut it useing an 80 tooth plywood blade on the table saw..Very slowly & it went fine...The particles of alluminum are everywhere,Extremly sharp,can't let my dog in the back yard tell I do a clean up w/shop vac..Never vacuumed a yard before...Oh well..thats trailer building for ya Thanks YA ALL...vino

[asianflava]

Looks like it's time to put that top dressing of dirt on the lawn. Actually now is the best time for that.

[vinoscooter]

ASIANFLAVA WROTE...Looks like it's time to put that top dressing of dirt on the lawn. Actually now is the best time for that.....

It's so dry around here...top soil would just blow away...This is 2000 ft.high desert country...Aso the windy time of year...Besides fishing season starts this weekend...the pod exterior is all most done,by next tuesday I hope...& a fishing I will go.

[Guest]

I cut quite a bit of aluminum doing commercial storefront systems and I use a triple chip carbide blade, the more teeth the better...
I have used wax or grease sticks to lubricate the blade, but have stopped doing that. The wax stick is supposed to keep the blade sharper for a longer period of time and it probably does... but it also makes a bit of a mess and gunks up the saw. (I'd rather take my blades in for sharpening a little sooner each time than have to wipe off all that greasy stuff on my aluminum all the time)

[vinoscooter]

The diamond plate is all ready cut, & glued & screwed on the pod...We just used a bit of liquid nails & screws...Hope it holds...It's screwed well though..Take care...