Member
Joined 2002
Jleaman
Better hole saws (nothing extreme/fancy... just not the cheapest one on the rack) will be made of hardened steel and can be used to cut aluminum. WD40 or similar light oils work well for lubrication and cooling. A typical hole saw for wood has no good exit path for chips... so you must retract your bit often and clear the chips... the chips are (really) what dull the blade.
Remember, the larger the hole, the slower the RPM. Also a large hole saw can easily self-destruct because of torque and flex in the shaft... be sure to clamp your work at 2 points before proceeding. Also, place a scrap of similar material under your workpiece and clamp the whole mess. This will prevent burrs on the bottom but will also help keep the piece from kicking as the blade goes through your workpiece.
😉
Better hole saws (nothing extreme/fancy... just not the cheapest one on the rack) will be made of hardened steel and can be used to cut aluminum. WD40 or similar light oils work well for lubrication and cooling. A typical hole saw for wood has no good exit path for chips... so you must retract your bit often and clear the chips... the chips are (really) what dull the blade.
Remember, the larger the hole, the slower the RPM. Also a large hole saw can easily self-destruct because of torque and flex in the shaft... be sure to clamp your work at 2 points before proceeding. Also, place a scrap of similar material under your workpiece and clamp the whole mess. This will prevent burrs on the bottom but will also help keep the piece from kicking as the blade goes through your workpiece.
😉
I couldn't agree more with Bob and Poobah.
Peter, all it will take is oneday for you to be making this cut and have something fall over and you notice it from the corner of your eye, it distracts you for a split second and bam! This is a unsafe procedure, you have taken a number of precautions to make it as safe as possible, but it is still an unsafe practise.
jleaman
You can get bi-metal hole saws that will cut metal
Bob
Peter, all it will take is oneday for you to be making this cut and have something fall over and you notice it from the corner of your eye, it distracts you for a split second and bam! This is a unsafe procedure, you have taken a number of precautions to make it as safe as possible, but it is still an unsafe practise.
jleaman
You can get bi-metal hole saws that will cut metal
Bob
BobEllis said:
I actually recently upgraded to Rigid TS3650 and I didn't even notice it had slots on both sides, as I don't use miter gauges.
However, the biggest problem with using such jigs is repeatibility of the cuts. If I set the fence once, I can do 100 cuts, each one exactly the same. I also run each piece twice, for improved cut smoothness. With a sled, it is too complicated to clamp/adjust each piece separately. Also, the second, smoothing run, will not work the same when using sled (as opposed to a fence), as forces pressing piece against the blade are different. One could integrate the action of a sled with the fence, but then, it would not be suitable for smaller sizes, when fence goes over the second slot.
And none of the gadgets you may see in catalogs compares to quality fence, both in accuracy and ease of operation.
I'm afraid the clamps from your link are useless for metal work.
Member
Joined 2002
I have some really good ideas. my limits you may ask. TOOLS 🙁 i pass metal working and welding in school with the highest mark for ideas and creativity.
Plus skill The lethe was my fav. I always had new ideas BUt now my challange is the tool's part. I have some really nice ideas fr some chassis im going to design and hope to use.
I don't really want to cut a hole but to use it to cut half a hole on the edge of a pice of 1/4" thick alumium.
Plus skill The lethe was my fav. I always had new ideas BUt now my challange is the tool's part. I have some really nice ideas fr some chassis im going to design and hope to use.
I don't really want to cut a hole but to use it to cut half a hole on the edge of a pice of 1/4" thick alumium.
I used hole saw to cut that opening, the edges came out almost perfect: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=493493#post493493
The hole saw was sourced from Home Depot (Task, IIRC).
The hole saw was sourced from Home Depot (Task, IIRC).
Attachments
jleaman,
There are 2 ways you can cut a half circle. First, start out with a large workpiece and cut a hole in the middle; then follow with a tablesaw and cut through the hole. Second, clamp an identical piece of material to the piece you want the half circle in; it must fit tightly; you must clamp them together (piece to piece) as well as down to the work table; then drill your hole normally.
😉
There are 2 ways you can cut a half circle. First, start out with a large workpiece and cut a hole in the middle; then follow with a tablesaw and cut through the hole. Second, clamp an identical piece of material to the piece you want the half circle in; it must fit tightly; you must clamp them together (piece to piece) as well as down to the work table; then drill your hole normally.
😉
Member
Joined 2002
Peter Daniel said:
Peter do you have more of them Volume knob's ? Or a link ?>
poobah said:
Yes this is what im going to attempt. I just wish i had more tools as i know i could make so many product's 🙁
The volume knob was custom made, from 1 3/4 aluminum rod, using grinder and bench press. You can make one yourself as well.
Member
Joined 2002
Peter Daniel said:
Are you not reading all of what i type ? I have no tools 🙁 i have access to a drill press MAYBE a sander of some sort 🙁 If i lived in my home town id have access to all the tools i could ever need ( local high school )
BobEllis said:
I cannot do that, because even with extra amount of safety precautions, accidents happen and nobody can prevent them.
I will also not encourage any SAFE operation, because it brings too much responsibility, as I myself, cannot gurantee other person safety following what I would propose here.
What I'm trying to encourage though, is common sense approach, where each person individually is responsible for his own safety, and only that person should know what is for him managable and what is not.
All I wanted to point out, was that cutting aluminum is not much different from cutting wood; in some ways it's actualy safer (no kick backs when good fence is being used rather than questionable home made fixtures). Aluminum is a bit harder, but not much harder than some woods. If you feed it properly, you will be OK.
The only protection really neccessary, when cutting metal, are safety glasses and I can't stress their use more than enough.
Showing what's possible, actually promotes safety, as it frees ones imagination and opens ways for new possibilities which can be certainly employed in safety manner.
Although I use table saw quite frequently, I never cut myself using it yet. I have multiple cuts from radial saw and bench press but not from table saw. Actually, the bench press was the most unfriendly for me.
Peter Daniel said:
Peter,
I clamp a stop block on the fence of the sled to do repeated cuts.
I mainly just use a stop block and hold the piece when cutting - except if it's too small. I could do 1/4" x 10" x 10" pieces all day and they would be exactly the same - to your 0.005" tolerance of course 😀
-Ken
Peter what kind of table saw are you using tha gives you +/- 0.005"? That is beyond the runout of the arbor on some of the best cabinet saws I have owned.
I must be using the same one as kec 😉
Trust me, the tolerance of the cut is not up to the saw, but depends only on the technique used.
Finally we have some professionals in this thread.
Trust me, the tolerance of the cut is not up to the saw, but depends only on the technique used.
Finally we have some professionals in this thread.
With one exception Peter,
The stop block clamped to the fence should be short enough so that as the work engages the blade; it is no longer in contact with the stop block. This provides a good clearance between the blade-workpiece-fence and allows you to retract slightly from the blade as you exit the cut toward the rear.
In your photo, your stop block (fence really) extends well past the exit side of the blade. This is perhaps the most dangerous part of the cut. The cut piece is entirely free and can catch on the portion of the blade that is traveling up; where will the loose piece go... do the geometry. Eye protection won't do much for you here...
BTW, your employer would be most curious about your atttitude toward safety. PLEASE TELL US THEY DON'T LET YOU TOUCH THE AIRPLANES... I do fly you know.
🙄
The stop block clamped to the fence should be short enough so that as the work engages the blade; it is no longer in contact with the stop block. This provides a good clearance between the blade-workpiece-fence and allows you to retract slightly from the blade as you exit the cut toward the rear.
In your photo, your stop block (fence really) extends well past the exit side of the blade. This is perhaps the most dangerous part of the cut. The cut piece is entirely free and can catch on the portion of the blade that is traveling up; where will the loose piece go... do the geometry. Eye protection won't do much for you here...
BTW, your employer would be most curious about your atttitude toward safety. PLEASE TELL US THEY DON'T LET YOU TOUCH THE AIRPLANES... I do fly you know.
🙄
poobah said:
Well, you should know how to set up the saw properly to avoid that and with quality fence it's never a problem.
eapavant said:I just saw the cross cutting with the fence.Have many kick backs?
As mentioned previously, never experienced kick back with aluminum.
Some kickbacks with really large MDF panles, but that was expected.
When I do crosscuts, I always use another board that pushes the smaller piece, then it does not make any difference if it's a crosscut or not.
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