Cutting Aluminum on the Home Shop Table Saw.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bill Gruby
  • Start date Start date
Finger boards on the table and one before and after the blade on the fence works well. I have had to cut custom sized channel that way, just use lots of WD40 and check the blade after each cut to make sure that no aluminum has filled in any of the teeth or is sticking to the side of the blade. If so let is cool off and knock it off with a putty knife. A slow feed rate allows the chips to clear from the cutting area so that there is less risk of build up on the blade.
 
uncle harry said:
OK,

As long as we can pick on Murphy, I'll risk identifying Koslowski's Law (Koslowski does not really exist) which states basically that Murphy was an optimist !
Click to expand...

Yes, and of the two (Murphy or Koslovski)... I am not sure which one I would rather be around... :bitingnails:

Last summer, I did a rebuild of a HP in a closet off the balcony of a 12th story condo. I saw old Murphy coming around, touting me... Realized he was determined to make my day living h*ll... so I asked him to come over and help me figure out what to do with this issue... When he got close enough, I grabbed him and hung him off the rail of the balcony. Told him if I ever saw him on my jobsite again... I was gonna really do something bad... then let go... :nuts:
Watching him go down... I breathed a sigh of relief, and went back to work. Finished the job on time, it is still running without any more attention.

(Note, this is a fictitious story... grin).
 
I have work in shops where they use a hand skill saw to cut 1" plate AL.

Dave
 
Using a table saw to cut thick aluminum plate sounds scary to me. I'm not sure I would try it. I can see using a mitre saw with an appropriate blade to cut extrusions, but I've never done it.

Coincidentally, I was watching a video on youtube by CompEdge X. and he uses a cheap table saw with a not-many tooth blade to cut 3/4" plate. Scary as hell! Confirms I will never try it. Check out the video around the 9:00 mark. Scary!

[video=youtube_share;CX4Ous-DOlQ]http://youtu.be/CX4Ous-DOlQ[/video]
 
table saw cuts love wax...clears the blade from accumulating alum as you cut. cutting for 40 years now
 
You at least need to get a PROPER metal cutting blade. They have NEGATIVE RAKE-the teeth lean backwards a little. That keeps them from breaking off. Special metal cutting Skil type saws run a bit slower than the ordinary higher speed wood cutting saws.

There are lots of hot chips popping around every where,and this is NOT a procedure I would recommend to novices.

It is certainly NOT a good idea to use an under powered table saw,thinking it has a built in safety factor. If a capacitor motor slows down,the capacitor kicks in,rapidly accelerating the speed of the motor. This can be very dangerous,and causes kick backs.

I bought a special metal cutting saw,a Milwaukee,I think,and a special metal cutting blade. I cut up a 1/2" sheet of bronze that was 4' x 8'. I used a wooden fence clamped to the plate to guide the saw. You do not want to get your saw cocked at a little in a cut in the cut. It will kick back. Even with the special housing,which covered the whole blade,plenty of blue hot chips bounced around. A face shield is certainly called for. Long sleeves are good also. You do not want to be distracted by hot chips on your arms.

I sold the saw to a forum member when I was done with it. Sawing metal with a circular saw is not something I want to do. The plate weighed 800#,so I had to cut it into smaller pieces to even get them light enough to get onto a machine. Further cuts can be made on my Roll In bandsaw.
 
chip_slinger said:
Using a table saw to cut thick aluminum plate sounds scary to me. I'm not sure I would try it. I can see using a mitre saw with an appropriate blade to cut extrusions, but I've never done it.

Coincidentally, I was watching a video on youtube by CompEdge X. and he uses a cheap table saw with a not-many tooth blade to cut 3/4" plate. Scary as hell! Confirms I will never try it. Check out the video around the 9:00 mark. Scary!
Click to expand...

No flippin' way! Uh, uh, no way, no how.:eek: I hope the guy is already deaf as he didn't even bother with hearing protection. :whacky:

I've read about how some of you have done this, and quite a bit of it, but to me it just screams to me as a good reason to buy a better bandsaw. ;)

I can imagine just how I would bring it up to the wife, "Hon, I have to cut this slab of aluminum. Now, I could go out and buy the "proper" blade and do it on the table saw but that would be highly dangerous< and a don't think we have a dismemberment clause in our home owners insurance, or I can go invest in the proper tool for the job which will be much safer and make future jobs easier/quicker/safer..."

JMHO

-Ron
 
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