Cutting aluminum

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An old wood blade will do the trick, preferable moderate tooth count (not aggressive crosscut but not fine finish/plywood either.) You'll be surprised how easy it cuts, I rip cut a chunk of 5/16" with a 24t blade on a skilsaw and it was like a hot knife through butter. I say an old blade because the aluminum sort of melts as your cutting it and will stick to the blade. DEFINITELY wear eye and ear protection, don't want aluminum dust in your eyes or your ears ringing for three days... This was learned the hard way :LOL2:
 
any blade that is for non ferrous metal with as many teeth as you can find,they have less angle on the teeth than a wood cutting blade.much safer if you are cutting lots of metal.if you use a wood cutting blade,cut SLOWLY.
 
I'm using Harbor Freight blades on my table saw and miter saw. The higher the tooth count, the better for smoother cuts. I use a squirt of WD40 to lubricate the cut and feed slow and steady. Seems to give the best cut. After you've done a few cuts, you get a feel for it.

Note: The Harbor Freight blades I'm using are carbide tipped and cost $25.00 apiece. They cut really well. Not a thin kerf, but plenty good enough for what I've done so far, including cutting up several very large sheets to needed (both ripping and crosscuts) and cutting a ton of hat channel and L-channel to length.
 
Use a carbide toothed blade, very hard teeth and will breeze thru aluminum on both your table and mitre saw without damaging the blade.
Tim
 
I've had great results with the "Diablo" blades. These blades are about half the thickness of a regular circular saw blade, which means less resistance in the cut, less strain on the tool and the blade. They cut very quickly and cleanly.

As mentioned, you DEFINITELY want to wear eye, and ear protection while cutting aluminum with a circular saw. You'll also want to wear long sleeves, or at least a set of welding leather sleeves or cape.....as the cutting process tends to sling hot, sharp pieces of aluminum, they don't feel too good on bare forearms, nor on the face or any other part of the body. Honestly a full face shield, as well as safety glasses, is a good idea, because of the shards being thrown about.
 
earl60446 said:
Use a carbide toothed blade, very hard teeth and will breeze thru aluminum on both your table and mitre saw without damaging the blade.
Tim
X2! cut alot of aluminum with a table saw and circular saw, using carbide blades.
 
Use some kind of lubricant while cutting alum. and it'll keep the alum. from building up in the gullets of the teeth on the blade. Try tranny fluid or a high detergent grade of motor oil. Just wipe the blade down with it before you start. The same works with drill bits, which have a tendency to drag aluminum on the bit point. The softer the grade of aluminum, the worse it gets.

Novaman
 
Any carbide tipped blade in a skill saw, table saw, or miter saw will cut aluminum.

If you use a carbide tipped bi-metal blade in the above tools the cut quality will be much better, the bi-metal blades have more teeth and provide a cleaner smoother cut.

I bought a bi-metal blade for my 12" miter saw at HD, it has 96 teeth.
 
Ok thanks for all of the input! Im pretty sure somebody said this but would it work just to have another person spraying WD on it for oil?
 
I use WD40 when cutting or drilling any kind of metal.

Great timing on your topic. I was cutting angle iron the other day to fabricate ceiling brackets for a garage door opener. It was such a pain to use a hacksaw and the reciprocating saw is just to big and clumsy. The small Dremel type rotary tool is too small and slow so I went out today and bought a new angle grinder! I'm ready for the next round of angle iron!
 
The more teeth per inch the better for metal. What you use depends on what you're cutting and how. If needing a straight cut then circular blade saws are best (i.e.- radial arm saw, table saw, skil saw, etc.). Curves can be done with band saw, jigsaw, or grinder with metal cut-off wheel. I prefer the metal cut-off wheel, but it does require a pretty steady hand. No matter which you choose wear eye-gear and have a grinder ready to knock dock the rough edges that will be generated
 
nomowork said:
I use WD40 when cutting or drilling any kind of metal.

Great timing on your topic. I was cutting angle iron the other day to fabricate ceiling brackets for a garage door opener. It was such a pain to use a hacksaw and the reciprocating saw is just to big and clumsy. The small Dremel type rotary tool is too small and slow so I went out today and bought a new angle grinder! I'm ready for the next round of angle iron!
Your right! My deemed is only good gunsmithing.
 
problem with lubricant if your welding, the lubricant will contaminate the material, Best to cut dry IMO.
+2

I also use a carbide blade with no lubricant.I've cut 1/2 " with no problems,just go slow.
 
theyyounggun said:
Ok do I want a blade for cutting metal with a lot of small teeth?

The rule of thumb for cutting aluminum is the thicker the metal, the less teeth. So, for some 1/16 material, you would want a plywood blade with 40+ teeth, and for something like 1/4" you want to use a framing blade with 24 teeth.
 
theyyounggun said:
Ok thanks for all of the input! Im pretty sure somebody said this but would it work just to have another person spraying WD on it for oil?

If you plan on welding the aluminum...DO NOT use oils or lubricants, they will contaminate the metal. I have never used any type of coolant for cutting aluminum with a saw.

With that said, anytime I need to drill or machine aluminum, or other metals, I use "kool mist' machining coolant. 4 oz of this stuff mixes with 1 gallon of water, and it makes a water-soluble coolant that saves on tool life.
 
crazymanme2 said:
problem with lubricant if your welding, the lubricant will contaminate the material, Best to cut dry IMO.
+2

I also use a carbide blade with no lubricant.I've cut 1/2 " with no problems,just go slow.


+3 I've cut material up to 3/8" without coolant or lubricant, just a coarse tooth framing blade, no problem.
 

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