Cutting Aluminum

[MJL21193]

Originally posted by jleaman

i used a chop saw safety glasses and a ordinary blade, took my time and got CRISP clean PERFECT cut's in any event it was VERY easy and smooth as butter.

J'

An ordinary blade? For cutting wood? The rake angle on the teeth of a blade designed for cutting wood is too aggressive for cutting metal. That's not to say it can't cut it, just that a mishap might occur.
A heartbeat. That's the difference from a good day merrily cutting your piles of aluminum and a bad day, getting rushed to the hospital.

[jleaman]

Originally posted by MJL21193



An ordinary blade? For cutting wood? The rake angle on the teeth of a blade designed for cutting wood is too aggressive for cutting metal. That's not to say it can't cut it, just that a mishap might occur.
A heartbeat. That's the difference from a good day merrily cutting your piles of aluminum and a bad day, getting rushed to the hospital.

As every one i talked to at the metal shops and the place to buy blades. I can't remember what the exact name was, carbide or non ferris, one of the to, i used it to cut so much aluminum it was not even funny worked perfect every time, did it good and well all i can say is im very happy, and i'm typing with both my fingers :P

Jase

[Nordic]

I have to just pitch in , and say that I used Peter's advice/method and had no problems with my cheap tablesaw... in fact I have been hurt worse by wood in the saw...

My method was to glue the aluminium to a piece of chipboard and move the whole assembly through the saw...

smaller pieces with screw holes, were screwed into the plank before sawing, as the glue could not hold them in place...

[jacco vermeulen]

Very interesting.
Sorry, got to dash off, noticed i dissected yet another finger.

[Cal Weldon]

I agree that post 15 is absolutely the wrong way to cut that piece of aluminum on a table saw. If you must use a table saw, I would only consider it if:

A) The fence were removed. Cross cutting like shown with the fence in place is a disaster waiting to happen.

B) The material were clamped to a sliding mitre gauge.

C) The operator is standing off center, clear of the flightpath of the cut piece.