I'm making a table saw guard out of Lexan and am going to use a plate of 6061 aluminum to act as a splitter and support. The blade cuts an 1/8" wide kurf and the aluminum is a 1/8" wide. The guard fits around the splitter and slides up and down. The surface area is about 2"x3" on both sides of the aluminum and should be moving loosely. Anybody have any thoughts as to the strength of the aluminum and/or the wear of the Lexan to the aluminum? R. Wink
FRE: Wear??
Aug 11, 2004
2 Replies
"R. Wink" wrote
6061 aluminum to act as a splitter and support. Thefits around the splitter and slides up and down.
be moving loosely.
wear of the Lexan to the aluminum?
AL is too soft and will move out of alignment and wear, leaving you with a splitter thinner than the blade. I can't tell from your description how you will enable the lexan to slide. It sounds like it rides on your splitter, in which case it won't be transparent for long. Your blade will trash it in short order. You will need spacers wider than the side to side play in the lexan.
I like the powermatic blade guard, and if I were going to reverse engineer one I would start there. Not that I condone that sort of thing.
Good luck,
mw
6061 is a far cry from the beer can stuff you are likely thinking of. It will work fine.
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