An abrasive saw on aluminum

Brento said:
This is the saw i have and the blade that is on it. The first set of things cut ok but once i got to the 1/2" material. I am having a hard time cutting the steel. It looks almost like it is work hardening as i am cutting. Is there a different blade i can maybe use? I still have 3/4 hex material to cut and i do have a 5/16 416SS pces to cut?
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Cutting those little pieces the way you are is probably the most painful way I can imagine, short of chewing them off. Parting them in the lathe would be preferable, and probably faster. Is that the only saw you have access to? If so, it's time to go to HF and buy a 4x6.

The use of any power driven abrasive (bench grinder, chop saw etc.) on aluminum is a no-no. There is enough heat generated that the aluminum will "melt" into the abrasive, requiring dressing off enough material to get below the aluminum.
 
savarin said:
I think the abrasive saw WILL load up and possibly could ignite.
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Indeed I have had that happen, though only with steel/iron chips when they build up in a clump and ignited by the sparks, a "steel wool" fire is produced. I suppose If a mixture of iron and aluminum chips ignited, the fire could be quite intense!
 
Brento said:
I did just get one an hour ago lol. Everyone be spending my money on here lol
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Great choice! you cannot go wrong with a bandsaw!
 
Reading up on updates for it and apparently its a good little saw with just minor set up tweaks out of the box.
 
Brento said:
Reading up on updates for it and apparently its a good little saw with just minor set up tweaks out of the box.
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Mine cut square and straight right out of the box. The blade that came with it was cutting fine until I did something stupid.
I recommend bi-metal blades, especially for stainless. 10-14 tpi vari-pitch is a good general purpose blade, though 14 tpi seems to be more readily available.


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I bought some blades from HF while i was there. One of each tpi. When they go bad i will go with the starrett blades. If i didnt buy blades already id get them now bc they are like 1/3 to 1/2 the price as they are on amazon.
 
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