Cutting Aluminum

[SMS]

I bought a 10" metal cutting wheel for a miter saw to cut aluminum, but it really doesn't work too well. It cuts it, but it's not a straight cut, presumably because the cutting wheel is flexible, and the motor isn't fast enough.

I ordered this blade "

" but I may return it unopened if it's not going to work well.

Is a 14" chop saw necessary for cutting aluminum (3/16" flat bar)?

Are most of the chop saws 14" because this effectively lowers the speed of wheel across the metal?

I saw a 6" chop saw that runs at 9000 rpm, which is close to the speed of a 14" chop saw running at 3900 rpm.

[BobK207]

I cut aluminum all the time on my Makita 10"

A good blade is a triple chip(?) grind which is what your blade appears to be.

If I'm only making a few cuts I just use my regular carbide blade.

Slow & steady feed and it should work fine. I'm surprised you're having trouble.

cheers Bob

[Red Green]

SMS wrote in news:47f5a2a5$0$36344$ [e-mail]:

Is this what you tried? These are pretty rigid...and fairly cheap

[Jim Yanik]

SMS wrote in news:47f5a2a5$0$36344$ [e-mail]:

if you think about it,the larger diameter the cutting blade,the FASTER the teeth go(linear rate),for the same RPM.

and a 14" blade has a lot more teeth than a 6" blade.

[Phisherman]

You don't need a fast blade to cut aluminum. For most applications the harder the material, the slower the cutting blade. For example, to cut pine, use a fast blade. To cut iron, use a slow blade. You can buy blade stiffeners/stabilizer, which look like a large washer that are fastened to the arbor against the blade. Make sure you buy one with the correct arbor size of your saw.

See:

[SMS]

Yes, I meant to say faster!

[SMS]

news:47f5a2a5$0$36344$ [e-mail]:

Yes, that's what I'm using, a cutting wheel. I think maybe it's too flexible. The cuts don't come out straight, and they're not too clean.

[dpb]

...

What Al alloy?

Sounds to me more like trying to cut too fast.

What kind of a cut are you trying to make?

--

[BobK207]

ews.sonic.net:

SMS-

The Norton abrasive blade you're using is better suited to ferrous materials not so good with aluminum.

Unless you've got dozens of cuts to make, you will get very good results with just about any sharp carbide wood cutting blade. Just go easy & don't blog the saw. Steady, light to medium tool pressure.

That Freud blade is perfect, you'll be happy with it.

cheers Bob

[SMS]

Aluminum 6061-T6 Extruded Rectangle 0.1875" x 1.25"

I'm not sure. The chop saws for metal using 14" cutting wheels all run at a much faster effective speed than I'm running. The smaller chop saw I saw ran at a much higher rpm to compensate for the smaller blade.

Just a straight cut.

I think one mistake I may be making is to not move the aluminum further back so I can come down directly in the center of the piece. The blade hits first on the outer edge of the piece then the blade comes down through the piece into the slot below.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 4/4/2008 7:57 AM BobK207 spake thus:

innews:47f5a2a5$0$36344$ [e-mail]:

I just finished milling aluminum on my table saw (9") with a sharp

60-tooth carbide blade. No problems, and very smooth cuts.

[mummudichozhan]

ounds good

[dpb]

That's a fairly hard alloy; iirc about Brinnel 75-80? If so, that's almost 3/4's of a moderately soft ductile cast iron which would be about

100. It's gonna' need some time to cut it cleanly (see comment following...)

I mean trying to push the saw thru the material faster than the blade can handle, not the blade speed...

Don't wanna' do that -- if a tooth catches w/o a hard stop behind it, you're really asking for trouble. If not against the solid fence, at least be sure to use something solid behind that can't collapse.

[DanG]

A regular carbide tipped wood working blade works just fine on aluminum. A wax stick or some WD 40 will help to keep the aluminum from galling the teeth - I strongly prefer the wax stick - a wax bowl ring would probably work just fine. There will probably be some burr on the cut, but nothing like using a fiber blade. Cuts will be as straight and square as your chop saw is capable of delivering as long as you have a good grip or clamp on the stock that you are cutting.

I purchased a non ferrous and I actually get a better cleaner cut from a wood working ATB blade. I have a good triple chip blade that I am tempted to try, but it is an expensive blade and have not done so.

[Rudy]

That blade should work well. I use a 60 tooth