Cutting Aluminum (easy/fast/cheap)

[shorty]

New to me but have to share.

Ever since getting the cnc mill up and running cutting stock for it has been painful on the band saw.

Searched around a little bit and came across using a circular saw with a carbide blade ( non-ferrous cutting blade ).

Sounded nuts to me but holy moly. Great clean cut and fast. It actually tears through .25" plate and I even tried it on 1" square stock.

If you never tried it, check it out. You will fall in love with it if you use alot of aluminum.

[superchikn]

Yup.
I have a Makita saw specifically designed for cutting metal. Slightly lower speed and more torque.  specific blades for various metals.  It is awesome.  18 v Lithium ion battery powered by the way.  Rips thru 5/16" steel or more.  Easily.
Home depot carries steel cutting circular saw blades.  many will scream through aluminum too.
Please wear safety glasses!!!

[Stinger177]

I cut aluminum all the time that way in my various work situations, and it's the one thing I hate most.

You'll get the cleanest edge (and safest cut) with a tooth design of triple chip, negative hook. The more teeth per inch, the better.

Positive hook and ATB (alternating top bevel) can sometimes "grab" and make things go flying in very bad directions.

When using a table saw, keep the blade high enough to not let the material ride up over the blade yet low enough to still be safe.

If using a miter (or "chop") saw, keep the blade down until it stops after completing the cut. Lifting the blade while still spinning will sometimes catch the material on the way up.

After the cut, DO NOT move the material until it's clear of the blade (i.e. don't try pulling it away from a spinning blade).

In addition to slower blade speeds, feed the material slowly and NEVER get overly confident about it.

WEAR YOUR SAFETY GLASSES!!

Remember, it ain't wood.

[Bob Pratl]

I have seen them cutting large extruded Aluminum heat sinks on a table saw 40 years age and have been doing it ever since with a LOT of caution.
Rays and Dennis suggestion above must be followed 100% as I have had pieces fly out of the saw by being careless and trying to rush.

[WhatUPSbox?]

Yes, I use miter saw, slow feed and FEAR.....so far so good

[Rob M]

very effective , the pucker factor is high

[Bob Pratl]

very effective , the pucker factor is high

That's a good way to put it.

[Mark Davis]

I bought the dewalt miter saw.  DW872 1300 rpm 14".
The table it came with had a lot of flex, it was the same type supplied with abrasive cut off saws.
I built a better table with a couple pieces of aluminum truck frame dowelled together.
Cuts steel up to 1"X1" solid with little effort, not recommended by manufacturer, bigger stuff like 1X6" steel takes some repositioning and cooling time.
Cheap hot rolled steel warps when heated up and wants to pinch the blade.
Aluminum, clamped firmly against the fence cuts like butter. I use WD-40 or kerosene as lube for AL. 
As other posters say, safety glasses good idea, hot chips fly everywhere.

[Back_Roads]

 When I did finish work on AL castings we used paraffin wax as a tool lube. FYI tip.

[Mark Davis]

Thanks for the tip backroads, cheap, easy, not messy!

[Madd Hatter]

Use to cut alu that way all of the time when I was still working in Aero space. I'm not talking about alu for aircraft parts but for pressure plates to make carbon composite test pannels. Use to use a huge shear at a aerospace materials supplier to do the same thing up to .250

[Stinger177]

I bought the dewalt miter saw.  DW872 1300 rpm 14".
The table it came with had a lot of flex, it was the same type supplied with abrasive cut off saws.
I built a better table with a couple pieces of aluminum truck frame dowelled together.
Cuts steel up to 1"X1" solid with little effort, not recommended by manufacturer, bigger stuff like 1X6" steel takes some repositioning and cooling time.
Cheap hot rolled steel warps when heated up and wants to pinch the blade.
Aluminum, clamped firmly against the fence cuts like butter. I use WD-40 or kerosene as lube for AL. 
As other posters say, safety glasses good idea, hot chips fly everywhere.

Nice set-up and good tip on the lube. Glad I don't have to work with Aluminum every day.

When I did finish work on AL castings we used paraffin wax as a tool lube. FYI tip.

Another good tip. Thanks James.


I was watching Restoration Garage (the car show) and one of the guys says when he sands Aluminum he uses bar soap on sanding belts to keep them from loading up.

Or wait, ......those guys are Canadian, so maybe it's Aluminium that he was speaking of. 

[Salvor6]

I have been using WD-40 for cutting oil on aluminum for years. It works great!

[Walther]

 In Canada it is Aluminum. In the UK it's Aluminium....
:p

[Stikkershokk]

I don’t have to cut much aluminum.
I hate cleaning the wood shop afterwards.

Whenever possible, clamp it down to cut.
Even on the cabinet saw ‘sled’.

And very thin gloves cut down on getting “sandblasted “ with the aluminum. No flappy garden gloves here, but the tight ones with rubber dots.