Cutting aluminum

[mbw]

I know this has been discussed before, but is it safe to cut aluminum on the table saw, and if so should I use an old blade.
Thanks
Mark

[paarker]

Yes, use what ever blade you want that is carbide tipped.

[JGrout]

cutting aluminum on the TS is safe as long as you protect yourself.

Those hot little shards tend to burn on skin so full face mask and long sleeve shirt


Skip the combo blade, Carbide tipped blade is best neg hook CT is better

past that about any normal CT blade with more than 50 Teeth is fine

[Arlin Eastman]

JGrout said:

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cutting aluminum on the TS is safe as long as you protect yourself.

Those hot little shards tend to burn on skin so full face mask and long sleeve shirt


Skip the combo blade, Carbide tipped blade is best neg hook CT is better

past that about any normal CT blade with more than 50 Teeth is fine

---

+1

[Timberwolf]

Be careful...keep the blade as low as possible....don't force it...make sure you use a fence..

I don't like using the table saw because of the blade speed...I prefer the band saw...

[kludge]

Tubing or flat stock?

I just cut 3/8 thick aluminum at the band saw with a steel blade, slow feed fate, cut like butter.

I've never cut it at the table saw, but I know someone who "trimmed" their Inca miter gauge pretty well.....

[EricU]

I got a high tooth count blade for my circular saw and did some pretty serious cutting on 3/4" MIC 6, which is a blanchard ground aluminum casting. I thought about using the tablesaw, but the machinist at work recommended a hand saw. No problems. I had to do some plunge cuts, which I never would do on the tablesaw. One thing is that I would not want to have to clean the tablesaw, but I did the cutting on the garage floor and it wasn't too bad to clean up.

I have routed aluminum using a carbide router bit. It works fine. I used to work in a place where we overhauled fighter jets. There was one repair where they used a Makita router and a template and routed out an access panel to be about an inch bigger in diameter. They would use beeswax on the router bit. That's really typical when cutting metal with a bandsaw that doesn't have coolant, they sell wax sticks specifically for that purpose. We have a metal cutting circular saw at work that uses a big blade, and we used the wax stick when cutting through a 1" steel plate about 2 feet long

[mike4244]

I'll add that the aluminum gets hot while cutting.I use a bandsaw ,tablesaw will do.
mike

[Timberwolf]

I've cut both tubing and flat stock on the TS, but the tubing can "roll" and scare hell outta you..better to make sure it's clamped somehow so it cant roll ..

I sawed 1" thick aluminum stock when I made my belt grinder with a Timberwolf 6point woodcutting blade on my bandsaw. It works well but will dull quicker than when it's used on wood. Doesn't matter tho, because I sharpen BS blades on the saw using my Dremel.

[Cooler]

I cut aluminum and brass on the miter saw all the time. No issues. The carbide is way, way harder than aluminum so you don't have to worry about wear. Some solid lubricant is useful.

http://www.amazon.com/BruteLube-XLUB-STI...C3Z287CKPD0W9NR

If you are only making a few cuts then you can probably get away with using Ivory soap (bar soap) or even Crisco.

But the dedicated stuff is better. They used to be made from animal fats so keep these away from your pets as they may eat it.