mmf
Well-known member
Bought some 1/8" diamond plate for my floor and decks and am considering cutting with a powersaw but it seems dangerous. Anyone been doing this and would you use carbide tipped blades or regular fine tooth steel?
bassboy1 said:I have never liked the idea of turning the blade backwards, for the reason that I'm worried it might knock a carbide tooth off. However, I cut .063 - .125 aluminum sheet with a circular saw (blade turned the right way) at least weekly. Works like a charm. Clamp down a guide, and you are good to go. Just wear hearing protection and eye protection, and work with common sense.
A simple guide like this is worth it's weight in gold for me. Clamp it to the piece you are keeping, and line the edge up with the cut line. That way, if you do pull away from the fence, it won't be into the keeper piece, and you never have to account for the kerf, as it will always be on the discard piece. The same results can be achieved by clamping a straight edge down, and just running the saw up against it, but on aluminum, one shaving between the saw plate and the sheet you are cutting will cause the saw to really stick, and leave a nice deep scratch in a brand new sheet of aluminum I just paid 275 bucks for. Also, this takes some of the brain work out, leaving less room for an OH $(#) moment.
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