A quick question about cutting aluminum on my TS if I may?..........real quick.......

Mark Rios

Member
Messages
797
Location
Central CA
The aluminum is 3/16" thick. It's an extruded aluminum sub-fence so in a couple of places it is thicker. I need to make a rip approximately 16" long.

Is there anything special that I need to do to cut this on my Uni?

Or should I clamp it down and try to cut it straight with my jigsaw?

I wouldn't have worried too much about it on my old Ridgid but I don't want to do something wrong with or to this saw.

Thanks very much for yor advice.
 
It can be done. I have.
But. Get an old blade. Turn it around BACKWARDS.
Wear a FULL face shield, gloves. Then chunks of alum are hot and sharp.

Seriously I'd advise against it. Jigsaw it
 
Steve, that was VERY scary with the blade on backwards. I have an old Dewalt Series 20 blade that I don't use very much so I put that on. It made a racket that added to my aprehension. I only cut about 3/4" along my rip because the aluminum would ride up on the blade instead of cutting. So I turned the blade around the right way and cut it, blade be damned. But it cut like butter. Wel, maybe not loke butter exactly.......maybe like wood.......maybe like hardwood. Anyway, cut fine and all is well but I did/do want to know if I should do anything special about the aluminum shavings/chips inside the saw?
 
I'm a bit late into the fray, but I've cut extruded aluminum with the carbide combo blade that came with my saw (the beater blade), and as you discovered, it cuts just fine. Full face protection is a must, but it cuts nicely.
 
I know they used to say to cut aluminum with a skillsaw you should put the blade on backwards, but that was back when they had steel blades and aggressive teeth. Now you can purchase blades made just to cut soft steel. The cost is probably not worth it though since beater blades are around the shop.

Myself, I cut a lot of aluminum, but I prefer the no kick-back bandsaw for the majority of my aluminum work. It just seems a lot safer.
 
You can use a carberundum metal cutting blade, or a high tooth count low hook TCG grind carbide blade for non-ferrous metal. You might want to put something down on the top of the saw to prevent scratches. DAMHIKT! :doh:
 
A little late for your quick question however, I use a Vermont American non-ferrous metal cutting bade sold by Ace Hardware, spray the blade with WD-40, wear a full face shield and feed slow and leave dust collection turned off. I have cut up to half inch aluminum with this set up and have had no problems with cut or saw, you can also use this blade on a chop saw. I have seen some Fire Truck Manufacturers using this set up for cutting.
 
yup, kens got it........but we`re both late:eek: ......i run non-ferrous blades on my chopsaw so when i want to cut aluminum i just swap it to the tablesaw...i`ve never tried cutting aluminum any thicker than 18 ga. with a backwards blade:eek: .......the nonferrous blades cut 1" thick with little effort...tod
 
Another late reply, but I've cut aluminum extrusions with an 80 tooth blade with good results. It was primarily crosscutting, but a little bit of ripping involved. I just had to clamp a scrap pc of MDF to the fence so that the aluminum didn't try to slip under the fence. It's a bit unnerving as it's definitely louder than cutting wood, but the 80 tooth blade (Freud) worked fine and didn't seem to affect it's sharpness or ability to cut sheet stuff without tearout.
 
The reason for turning the blade around, is if you have a blade with say 24-30 teeth, the teeth won't hook the material and tear everything up.
With more teeth, thats not a problem. Run the blade direction as normal.
Been a long time since I have done this. I do remember the scary experience:eek: :)
 
Top