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I used to work in the Scitech exhibits manufacturing workshop.
We routinely cut 1'' aluminium plate on a table saw...the trick is high speed blade and Citrus oil as cutting/lubricating oil.
Dan.
They make circular saw blades with a negative rake angle for cutting aluminum. I keep one in my power miter saw. I use it for cutting bar stock. For sheets I have a turret press. Not a common tool. (I do have a rule that I should spend more on material than the tool.)
One trick with a regular carbide table saw blade is to put it in backwards.
One trick with a regular carbide table saw blade is to put it in backwards.
I use a TCG blade for cutting Alu on the tablesaw. Lubricant is paraffin wax. Works really well with a very clean cut. Cover your arms and eyes when cutting aluminium or brass or you will bleed.
Not for electronics but... My Rotozip always comes to my rescue. Dremels are nice but when with bigger jobs, when time is limited and accuracy isn't paramount, the Rotozip shines. I have used it for tasks that would normally require a planer, sander, tile saw, sawzall, router, hacksaw, etc.
For electronics, my best value for the dollar was a cheap set of magnifying eyeglasses with LEDs on either side. I find them much more convenient than headband magnifiers, stereo microscopes (which still have their rightful place) and desk lamps with built in magnifiers. Their downside, just like with my regular eyewear, is that I often forget where I've put them within 30 seconds of taking them off.
For electronics, my best value for the dollar was a cheap set of magnifying eyeglasses with LEDs on either side. I find them much more convenient than headband magnifiers, stereo microscopes (which still have their rightful place) and desk lamps with built in magnifiers. Their downside, just like with my regular eyewear, is that I often forget where I've put them within 30 seconds of taking them off.
Hey hey! A fellow Perth inhabitant. That workshop at SciTech is great - all the toys.
Yes George I can appreciate the man's concern with you using a rip blade for aluminum and leaving the fence in place.
The moment you go too fast with ally in a table saw is quite... exciting!
I like the tip about feeding it in the other way - nice to stay out of the way of any grabbing and flying jobs.
A nice pair of flush cutters with a lead retaining clips. Keeps those leads from flying all over! I have a Xuron (Industrial Tools - Xuron Corp. - Maker of hand tools for electronics, areospace, hobbies and jewelry industries) but managed to chip the blade on some wire that was sturdier than it appeared. Have a pair of Knipex on the way: https://www.knipex.com/index.php?id...Mobile=&parentID=1367&groupID=1485&artID=2800.
I have managed to ruin every flush cutter I have ever purchased. They are indeed a handy tool. Perhaps Knipex for Christmas...
I understand the issue with pinching the work between two fixed objects and the resulting UFO that can be created. That picture 5 years old or so, so I don't remember the details, but it and all the other pictures in that folder are obviously staged after the fact. There is no metal dust, sawdust, or Lexan particles in any of them, and the saw blade isn't spinning.
For a cut like what was originally shown, I would have used the Incra.
The only picture in the folder for that day where the saw is in use is below, and both aluminum top plates for the Hundred Buck Amp Challenge are already made, and visible in the photo. The cabinets are being made, and I likely found a matching pair of scraps and threw them on the saw for a staged picture without really thinking about it.
Tool I could have used sooner.....stereo microscope, reason I didn't buy one sooner, $$$$. I walked into Planet Surplus one day when they were having a 30% off everything, overstocked sale and saw it. For $105 it was a deal. I had used a similar scope at work for years. I can't deal with SMD's without one any more.
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Which one Cal ? I've wasted a ton of money on sharperners - none of them work very well....
The Chef's Choice 1520 electric knife sharpener works very well in my experience. It offers two grind angles: 15 degrees ("Asian") and 20 degrees ("German/American"). And the final polishing stage (wheel) gives a very smooth, very sharp edge in my experience. I even use it, per the instruction manual, to sharpen up my Japanese single-bevel "Yanagiba" sashimi knife.
Then when I'm either super bored, or feeling especially anal-retentive, I'll use my Knives Plus strop block to polish the edge even further. (link)
Then when I'm either super bored, or feeling especially anal-retentive, I'll use my Knives Plus strop block to polish the edge even further. (link)
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